All eyes on China with two sessions underway

As China's two sessions — an annual major political event — get underway this week, there will be significant domestic and international attention on what unfolds.

Concurrent sets of meetings begin on Tuesday of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body. Then one day later, the 14th National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature, kicks off.

The CPPCC plays an important advisory role through the recommendations it offers to government agencies. The NPC involves provincial political leaders, scientists, technicians, farmers and workers, among others, who review and vote on important legislative matters. Topics relating to economic growth, high-quality development, reform and opening-up, real estate, foreign trade and investment, and high technology are expected to be on the agenda.

Experts and markets are closely watching the annual gross domestic product growth target the policymakers will set at the two sessions and what are the measures in the pipeline that would boost consumption, stabilize the real estate sector, encourage long-term "patient money" into the capital market, and continue to support the growth of the crucial private economy.

China has been the world's primary growth engine for multiple years, but of late it has had to deal with negative impacts of challenging domestic economic realities.

The pressures have been exacerbated by the corrosive tariffs applied by the United States that are now in their eighth year.

Put all of these factors together and it is clear that pro-growth policies will be a major focus intensely discussed by the NPC deputies and CPPCC members during the two sessions. Not to be forgotten is that 2025 marks the last year of the current 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25);as a result, an examination of which of its goals have already been met will take place.

One data point offers good news for China, which has regularly contributed about one-third of global growth in recent years: The monthly purchasing managers' index for February shows that production activities are on the upswing and optimism has increased for the overall economy.

Additional foreign direct investment data, to be released later this month, will provide another indicator of optimism. It already registered an impressive month-on-month growth in January. Western analysts were quick to discuss why foreign investment in China fell in 2024 to levels not seen in more than two decades, and China is quickly moving to address this reality. The lucrative telecommunications sector, for example, has already been opened up wider for international investors, and the Chinese authorities have also announced expansion of opening-up trial programs for healthcare and education sectors.

Meanwhile, China's commitment to high-quality development is well known. One demonstration of that is through technology, an area where China continues to shine. Consider, as just one example, the attention devoted to DeepSeek, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup, which released its new DeepSeek R1 model in January. One US-based publication defined DeepSeek as "matching leading US models' performance at a fraction of the cost by using compute and memory resources more efficiently". One leading US university praised DeepSeek for its "capacity for clever engineering and algorithmic innovation".

Technology also plays an important role in other industries, including agriculture. Recognizing the international realities associated with climate change and food insecurity, China continues to push for ways to improve all aspects of food production, distribution and security. A few days ago, the government released this year's No 1 Central Document, with agriculture and the rural economy front and center. Agricultural innovation is seen as a critical means to achieve the important goal of grain security.

In other words, both the CPPCC and the NPC are expected to analyze how self-developed technologies are helping various industries and people at home and abroad.

Although it may not be a major direct agenda item this year, there is an important reality connected to the two sessions: the whole-process people's democracy. It is an outcome-based model that puts the people at the center of all government decision-making and is judged by how well the government is able to improve the people's socioeconomic conditions and serve their needs. And such an approach to democracy will be central to what will take place in the country's political life over the next few days.

Sober and serious conversations will be evident when the CPPCC and the NPC are in session. When one remembers that in other parts of the world, some leaders seem more interested in bombast and bluster, a political gathering that functions professionally should be welcomed all across the globe.

The author is an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University in the United States.