Agenda-setting advances are now in place
Print Edition
DEPUTIES to the 13th National People’s Congress gathered yesterday at a preparatory meeting to elect the presidium and secretary-general, and set the agenda for the second session of the 13th NPC scheduled to begin today.
A 176-member presidium was elected, with Wang Chen as the secretary-general of the NPC session.
All preparation for the annual session is done, according to Chairman of the 13th NPC Standing Committee Li Zhanshu, who presided over the preparatory meeting and expressed his hope that the session will be democratic, united, pragmatic and progressive.
As of Sunday, 2,956 of the 2,975 NPC deputies had registered with the session’s secretariat, and 2,932 attended the preparatory meeting.
The meeting also adopted the agenda of the session.
Prior to the preparatory meeting, the chairman and vice chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee met. Attendees heard the report on the drafts of the agenda, and the presidium and secretary-general named lists for the upcoming annual session and decided to submit the drafts to the preparatory meeting.
Also yesterday, Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the second session of the 13th NPC, answered questions from Chinese and foreign media at a press conference.
Here are some of the highlights:
Military is for defense
China's limited defense spending, which is for safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, poses no threat to any other country, the spokesman said.
“China will adhere to the path of peaceful development and adopt a defense policy that is defensive in nature,” said Zhang.
“Whether a country is a military threat to others or not is not determined by its increase in defense expenditure, but by the diplomatic and national defense policies it adopts.”
China has maintained a single-digit growth rate in its budgeted national defense spending since 2016, following five consecutive years of double-digit increase. Its budgeted growth rate stood at 7.6 percent in 2016, 7 percent in 2017, and 8.1 percent in 2018.
While the national defense spending in some major developed countries accounted for more than 2 percent of their GDP, the ratio was only about 1.3 percent for China in 2018, according to Zhang.
“China maintains a reasonable and appropriate growth rate in its defense expenditure to meet its demand for safeguarding national security and military reform with Chinese characteristics,” he said.
Progress on trade deal
China and the United States should step up economic and trade consultations to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.
Economic and trade teams from both sides have recently carried out intensive and productive consultations and made important progress on many issues of common concern, said Zhang.
Both countries and the international community have responded positively to the progress, he said.
“We believe the China-US economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in essence, so we hope the two sides can continue to step up consultations to reach a win-win agreement,” the spokesman said.
At present, the most important thing for both sides to do is to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their Argentina meeting, and manage and control differences on the basis of expanding cooperation to ensure that the bilateral relations develop along the right track.
The behavior of playing up the security risks in Chinese products by some US officials is interference in economic activities by political means, said Zhang.
It is against the rules of the World Trade Organization and disrupts international market order based on fair competition, a typical practice of double standards that is neither fair nor moral, he said.
Win-win cooperation
Cooperation is the best option for China and the US while a confrontational relationship would serve neither side’s interests.
Zhang said it is natural for China and the US to have differences, but it does not necessarily lead to confrontation, adding that the interests of the two countries are deeply intertwined.
China stays committed to developing a relationship with the US to realize non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.
At the same time, China stays firm in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, he added.
Korea talks positive
China hopes the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the US will continue talks and stick to a political solution which is key to resolving the Korean Peninsular issue.
Zhang described the recent meeting between the DPRK and US leaders in Hanoi as “constructive.”
Zhang expressed the hope that the DPRK and the US keep good faith, remain patient and continue to engage in talks toward the right direction to seek further progress.
Export laws needed
China is looking to draft a law on the management and control of exports, in a bid to enhance the legislation on national security and social governance.
Laws in areas such as data security and biosecurity will also be drafted, the spokesman said.
The laws are to improve the country’s capacity for forestalling and fending off security risks, he said.
Belt and Road success
A total of 152 countries and international organizations have signed cooperation documents with China on the Belt and Road Initiative.
In 2018 alone, 67 countries signed such documents with China, said Zhang.
Information protection
China plans to draft a personal information protection law, in a bid to fight against improper collection, abuse and leaks of citizens’ personal information.
Zhang said the NPC Standing Committee will also work on a number of laws relevant to artificial intelligence.
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