BEIJING (AP) – Leader no. 2 China announced a healthy economic growth target on Friday and intends to make this nation autonomous in technology amid tensions with Washington and Europe over trade, Hong Kong and human rights.
The ruling Communist Party aims to grow “by more than 6%” as the world’s second-largest economy comes from the coronavirus, Prime Minister Li Keqiang said in a speech to China’s ceremonial legislature. About 3,000 delegates gathered at the two-week annual meeting, the highest-profile political event of the year, under heavy security and antivirus control.
The party moves from fighting the virus that emerged in central China in late 2019 back to its long-term goal of becoming a global competitor in profitable technologies, including telecommunications, clean energy and electric cars.
The NPC meeting usually focuses on domestic issues, but is increasingly overshadowed by geopolitics as President Xi Jinping’s government pursues more assertive trade and strategic policies abroad, combats dissent at home, and faces criticism over treatment. towards Hong Kong and ethnic minorities.
Also Friday, the government announced a 6.8% increase in military spending to 1.4 trillion yuan ($ 217 billion) as China faces tensions with India and other neighbors over conflicting territorial claims and ambitions. match the United States and Russia in ballistic missiles, stealth fighters and other weapons technology.
This figure in a budget report published while Li was speaking is lower than the double-digit increases of previous years, but exceeds economic growth and is a significant increase in real terms at a time when inflation is close to zero. Foreign analysts say total military spending is up to 40 percent higher than the reported figure, which is the second highest in the world after the United States.
China became the only major economy to grow last year, achieving a multi-decade low of 2.3% after closing most of its industries to fight the virus. Growth accelerated to 6.5% from a year earlier in the last quarter of 2020, while the United States, Europe and Japan struggled to renew virus outbreaks.
He promised that “he will work faster to improve our strategic scientific and technological capacity,” seen by communist leaders as a path to prosperity, strategic autonomy, and global influence. These plans are threatened by technology and security conflicts with Washington that have led then-President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on companies, including telecommunications equipment giant Huawei, China’s leading global technology brand.
The ruling party’s latest five-year development plan says efforts to make China an autonomous “technological power” are an economic priority this year.
The party believes that “scientific and technological autonomy is a strategic support for national development,” Li said.
The prime minister warned that there were “weak links” unspecified in the virus control activity and said that the basis for economic recovery “must be further strengthened”.
Li promised to continue “green development” following Xi’s commitment last year to ensure China’s peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. This will require strong increases in clean and renewable energy. in an economy that gets 60% of its power from coal and is the largest source of climate-changing industrial pollution.
“We will accelerate the transition of China’s growth model to one of green development and promote both high-quality economic growth and environmental protection to high standards,” Li said. He promised to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption per unit of economic production.
The prime minister said Beijing would “improve relevant systems” in Hong Kong “to protect national security”, but did not give details of possible changes in the territory, where the ruling party is tightening its grip on pro-democracy protests. The party used last year’s legislative session to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, on the basis of which dozens of activists were arrested.
“We will resolutely protect against discouraging the intervention of foreign forces in Hong Kong affairs,” the prime minister said.
A spokesman for the legislature, Zhang Yesui, said on Thursday that he would consider unspecified changes to support “patriots who run Hong Kong,” fueling fears of Beijing’s plans to shut down opposition voices in the city’s political process.
Speculation has focused on the possibility of reallocating votes to the 1,200-member committee, which selects the Hong Kong leader to exclude the small number of local district councilors elected.
Li reiterated official promises to promote “peaceful growth of relations” with Taiwan, but did not announce any initiative for the self-governing island that split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war. Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to invade if it tries to formalize its de facto independence. Li said the continent would “strongly discourage” any activity “seeking” Taiwan’s independence. “
This year’s legislative meeting takes place mainly through video links to keep Chinese leaders, delegations and reports separate as an antivirus measure. Last year’s meeting was postponed from March to May due to the outbreak. The official Xinhua News agency said that the decision to comply with this year’s program shows that economic and political life “returns to normal.”
The ruling party previously announced that it had achieved its goal of doubling economic output from 2010 to last year, which required an annual increase of 7%. Xi talked about doubling production again by 2035, which would mean an annual increase of about 5%, still among the highest for any major economy.
The governing party’s desire for prosperity produced by free market competition clashes with its insistence on playing a dominant role in the economy and reducing its dependence on other countries.
The prime minister said Beijing would encourage consumer spending on home appliances, cars and other high-ticket items to help boost self-sustaining growth and reduce dependence on exports and investment.
Li said the ruling party will promote the development of electric vehicles in China by building more charging stations and accelerating the development of battery recycling. China is the largest electric vehicle market in the world, accounting for about half of global sales.
Beijing will promote “domestic circulation,” Li said, referring to official pressure on industries to use more components and technologies provided by China and relying less on input from the U.S., Europe and Asian suppliers, even as it grows. the costs.
This emphasis on self-confidence has fueled fears that the world could divide into separate spheres in the US, China and other industrial sectors with incompatible technologies, lower competition and higher costs.
The goal of “disconnecting them from technology and foreign supply chains” is “more likely to hurt productivity than help it” and will make it harder to reach the 2035 target, Capital Economics’ Mark Mark said in a report this week.