Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- China’s most senior officials are gathering in Beijing over the next week for the annual full-session of the country’s parliament, the National People’s Congress.On Friday morning, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered his work report, the equivalent of the U.S.’s State-of-the-Union address. As part of that speech, Li unveiled a relatively conservative target for economic growth this year of above 6%. Meanwhile, China’s new five-year that runs through 2025 didn’t give a numeric target for average growth over that period.Also in focus are potential changes to the governance of Hong Kong, after it was revealed late Thursday that the NPC will review a proposal to overhaul the city’s electoral system. Although details of the proposal have yet to be made public, the move is likely to limit the ability of Hong Kong’s political opposition to win public office.What to Know:Click here to find our coverage of this year’s NPCPremier Li Keqiang’s work report is here in fullA QuickTake that explains what the NPC isWhat analysts say to watch out for this yearBloomberg Intelligence previews the NPCLatest developments: (Time-stamps are local time in Beijing)Events to Come: Foreign Minister, 5-Year Plan BriefingKey upcoming NPC events that have been announced so far include:March 7, afternoon -- Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks to mediaMarch 8, 10:00 -- NDRC Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe discusses 14th five-year plan at briefingMore Charging Stations for Electric Cars (Friday 10:40)China aims to boost auto sales and add more charging facilities for electric vehicles this year. The government will encourage “steady increases” on spending on cars and “abolish excessive restrictions” on the sale of used vehicles, Premier Li Keqiang said Friday. More car parks, EV charging stations and battery-swapping facilities will be built, and battery recycling systems developed at a faster pace, Li said.Premier Calls for Breakthroughs in Core Tech (Friday 10:29)In his address Friday, Premier Li Keqiang outlined steps the government will take to make China into a global tech power. That includes building more national laboratories and innovation centers, as well as ramping up efforts to implement a little-heard of program called the Sci-Tech Innovation 2030 Agenda. Li also said China’s R&D spending will increase by more than 7% per year, which “is expected to account for a higher percentage of GDP” than during the previous five-year plan.Defense Budget Growth Fastest in Two Years (Friday 10:20)China’s defense spending is expected to grow 6.8% this year to 1.35 trillion ($208 billion), according a budget report released today. That would be the fastest pace in two years. “We will boost military training and preparedness across the board, make overall plans for responding to security risks in all areas and for all situations,” Premier Li Keqiang said in his work report.Boosting Trade with U.S. Allies (Friday 10:05)China may join an Asia-Pacific trade pact comprised of key U.S. allies that former President Donald Trump exited, Premier Li Keqiang said Friday. In his work report, Li said Beijing “will actively consider joining” the 11-nation agreement known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. It includes nations that China has sparred with recently such as Australia, Canada and Japan.China Stocks Fall 10% From Recent Peak (Friday 9:59)Chinese markets opened as Premier Li Keqiang was delivering his work report at the NPC and continued their recent slide, with the benchmark CSI 300 Index dropping as much as 2% at the start of trading. That put the index down 10% from a peak reached on Feb. 10. The rout has come amid growing concern that Beijing will begin to tighten liquidity conditions as the country’s economy recovers from the effects of the coronavirus.Targeting Cuts in Carbon Emissions (Friday 09:43)China will devise an action plan for carbon emissions to peak by 2030 and is targeting an 18% cut per unit of GDP by 2025, according to Premier Li’s work report. The nation will also aim for a 3% cut in energy consumption per unit of GDP in 2021 and a 13.5% reduction by 2025.Tencent’s Pony Ma Makes Proposals in Person (Friday 09:16)Tencent founder and Chief Executive Pony Ma, who is an NPC delegate, is attending this year’s event in Beijing and submitted a proposal for better preserving China’s natural resources. Ma’s whereabouts have attracted attention after he skipped last year’s NPC and was also absent from several major Tencent events due to health reasons.China Sets Modest GDP Target for 2021 (Friday 09:00)China set a conservative economic growth target of above 6% for the year, well below what economists forecast, and outlined ongoing fiscal support to keep the country’s recovery going. Other key economic targets include:Fiscal deficit target set at 3.2% of GDP for 2021, versus 3.6% in 2020CPI target set at 3% for 2021, versus around 3.5% in 2020Target for new urban job creation set at 11 million in 2021, versus 9 million in 2020Special government bond quota set at 3.65 trillion yuan in 2021, versus 3.75 trillion yuan in 2020Defense Spending, Vaccine Deals (Thursday 22:29)At a press conference the night before the NPC kicks off, spokesman Zhang Yesui reiterated that China maintains appropriate and steady increases of defense spending to safeguard the nation’s developmental interests, without giving a number for how much those outlays may increase in 2021. Zhang also said that 40 countries have discussed buying Covid vaccines from China, adding though that the country’s efforts aren’t driven by geopolitical agenda.Hong Kong Electoral Overhaul (Thursday 22:15)Late Thursday, the official Xinhua News Agency published an agenda for this year’s NPC that showed lawmakers would be considering a proposal to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system. While details of that plan have yet to be made public, the move is expected to limit the ability of the city’s political opposition to hold public office.NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui told reporters at a briefing after the agenda was published that developments over recent years in Hong Kong showed the electoral system needed to be improved to keep up with the times, and to provide a sound institutional guarantee for the implementation of the “one country, two systems” framework and the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong.”CPPCC Doesn’t Mention ‘One Country, Two Systems’ (Thursday 15:00)Wang Yang, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, didn’t mention the “one country, two systems” framework for governing Hong Kong during his address at the opening of the CPPCC’s session Thursday. Instead, Wang stressed the need to implement the principle of “patriots governing Hong Kong.” That comes amid a growing number of signs pointing to a possible overhaul of the city’s electoral system.Top Chinese Lawmakers Get Vaccinated (Thursday 14:50)More than 5,000 lawmakers and political advisers in Beijing for the annual parliamentary sessions this month have received shots of the vaccine developed by state-owned Sinopharm, company Chairman Yu Qingming told People’s Daily. The company’s production capacity is set to reach 3 billion doses, he added, without giving a time frame.Meanwhile, China has also recently expanded the use of home-developed shots to people 60 and older, and the drug regulator is reviewing newly submitted data from Sinopharm as it weighs whether to distribute the shot to children, Yu said.China’s Sovereign Fund Gains 12% (Thursday 13:49)China Investment Corp. posted a return of more than 12% on overseas investments in 2020 after markets rallied on loose monetary policies, marking a breakout year for the sovereign wealth fund, Executive Vice President Zhao Haiying said in an interview. Speaking to Bloomberg ahead of the CPPCC meeting where she’s a member, Zhao said she expects calmer markets this year after “a very unusual” 2020.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo Finance
