The Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress(NPC) started its 33rd session
on March 2 to prepare for the upcoming 5th annual session of the 13th NPC, which will open
on March 5.
Reuters (March 1) reported that at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress which
begins on March 5, on Saturday, more stimulus to ease a growth slowdown that could fuel job
losses in a politically sensitive year is expected to be announced. Xu Hongcai, Deputy Director
of the Economic Policy Commission at the China Association of Policy Science, was quoted
saying "Stability overrides everything before the 20th Party Congress. We need to create an
environment for stable development." Reuters quoted a government adviser who spoke on
condition of anonymity who said, "This year's parliament session will focus on how to cope
with economic pressures, stabilise growth and employment." Yang Chaohui, a Lecturer of
Politics at Peking University, said this year's parliament session, already shortened by COVID19, is expected to be a low-key event. He said, "I anticipate delegates will be extra prudent this
year and avoid airing alternate views on hot-topic issues such as the zero-COVID policy,
'common prosperity' or China's position on Ukraine." Chinese policy analysts are saying that China will likely target growth of 5% to 5.5% or "above" 5% in 2022, and that Finance Minister
Liu Kun has pledged to unveil tax and fee cuts this year that exceed last year's 1.1 trillion yuan
($174.3 billion). China is also likely to refrain from unveiling a property tax trial until the
second half of 2022, when the housing market is expected to stabilise. Wang Jun, Chief
Economist at Zhongyuan Bank said, "When the economy faces relatively big pressures, it is
not a good time for pushing forward drastic reform measures." CNBC estimated China's
policymakers are likely to announce further stimulus measures to shore up growth. The
People's Bank of China (PBoC) is also expected to reduce the number of high-risk banks.
A poll conducted by a Chinese news outlet showed 10 keywords highlighting "law-based
governance", "full & strict Party governance" and "social security". HK Chief executive Carrie
Lam regretted her inability to attend because she had to attend to the Covid outbreak in
Hongkong. 'Stability' is likely to be a prominent consideration at the NPC.
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