WASHINGTON DC – China’s annual parliamentary session started on Sunday (5 March) in Beijing. The National People’s Congress (NPC) is often described as a “rubber stamp” legislature because the body has yet to vote down a single bill. But this doesn’t mean that nothing significant will take place inside the Great Hall of the People over the next eight days. Indeed, Xi Jinping has already made, according to state media reports, an uncharacteristically direct attack on the US. “Western countries – led by the US – have implemented all-round containment, encirclement and suppression against us, bringing unprecedentedly severe challenges to our country’s development,” he said on 6 March.
The NPC, which is attended by around 3,000 delegates, is part of what is known in China as the Two Sessions, together with the awkwardly named Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The latter, which began on 4 March, includes a number of prominent businesspeople and Chinese celebrities, such as the former basketball star Yao Ming – who at 7-foot 6in is generally easy to spot among the delegates – and the filmmaker Jackie Chan.
Content from our partners
