By Evandro Menezes de Carvalho*
Last March 11 was completed the session of the 14th China National Popular Assembly, the Chinese Legislature, together with the session of the National Committee of the Chinese Political Advisory Conference, an advisory agency without legither powers. On the occasion of these two sessions, Prime Minister of the State Council, Li Qiang, announced the goal of economic growth around 5%, a price inflation of 2%, the objective of creating more than 12 million new urban jobs and maintaining the unemployment rate of around 5.5%. Good news for the Chinese people and, indirectly, for the global economy.
One of the priorities of the Chinese government is to expand consumption, still considered modest. The recovery of the real estate sector with the drop in the price of real estate and the improvement of retail sales encourage projections on consumer demand. The announcement of day care and medical assistance subsidies, as well as the allocation of 300 billion yuans from Treasury titles to a consumer goods exchange program, will give time to the family budget. The government also wants to increase the productive capacity of the economy and keep it oriented to export. China has become an industrial power and its factories produce a third of manufactured goods in the world. Last year, the country exported US $ 3.58 trillion in goods and services, and imported US $ 2.59 trillion. China thus had an unprecedented nearly $ 1 trillion surplus in its trade balance.
Some obstacles along the way are mapped by the Chinese government. In the internal plan, there are problems of provincial and municipal governments debt that led local authorities to adopt more rigorous surveillance about companies in search of revenues for public coffers. The rigor has inhibited the private sector and now the central government calls for a recalibration of this relationship. After all, as the prime minister’s work report pointed out, the country needs to foster emerging industries and the future industries such as biofabrication, quantum technology, AI and 6G technology. The Xi Jinping meeting with the leaders of the largest technology companies in the country last February was an eloquent message from the government’s determination to develop total synergy with Chinese private companies to revitalize China and face technological competition with the US.
In the international level, the biggest obstacle comes precisely from the unilateralist and protectionist policy of US President Donald Trump, who tends to intensify. Chinese foreign policy has dealt with this situation in a calculated manner by adopting trade defense measures to neutralize any damage to its economy and, above all, without making the expected bilateral dialogue between Xi and Trump unfeasible. On the other hand, Chinese society is more able to deal with the adversities that come from outside the country. The case of DeepSeek has shown that the numerous US restrictions on Chinese access to high power AI chips did not fade the Chinese determination to overcome competition. The intense competition between private companies in China and also among provinces in the construction of AI clusters, robotics and biotechnology centers have increased the country’s dynamism, making China a place of opportunity for talent.
The strategy of “double circulation” introduced in 2020 by the Communist Party of China to rebalance the economy of the country by prioritizing domestic consumption has been successful. The country is moving to be self-sufficient in key sectors by diversifying supply sources, increasing value added participation in exports and making full use of the productive capacity and consumption of its population. The government has also taken forward the growth model led by the “new quality productive forces”-a key concept that appears in official statements since 2023 and was present in the report presented at this session of the 14th National Popular Assembly. The new productive forces inaugurate an era of scientific and technological innovation, increasing China’s global competitiveness.
Commercial, industrial and technological power, China is fundamental to a more prosperous and inclusive international order, and must be understood given the foreign policy of the Xi Jinping government that advocates the construction of a global community of shared future. Global southern countries know that if they want to thrive, they must develop more partnerships with China.
*China Executive Editor Today, Professor of International Law at UFF and FGV.
Source: https://www.chinahoje.net/as-duas-sessoes-de-2025/
