China signals coronavirus under control with resumption of parliament on May 22

Opening of the annual National People’s Congress session has been delayed for months as country battles Covid-19

Civil code and biosecurity law expected to be on agenda, along with policies to spur economic growth

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Delegates attend the 13th National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:44am, 29 Apr 2020Updated: 6:56pm, 20 May 2020

Beijing announced the date for its long-delayed annual legislative session on Wednesday after the first disruption of China’s most important political event for decades, in a display of confidence that the new coronavirus outbreak is under control.

The National People’s Congress Standing Committee said the annual general assembly session of the NPC, China’s parliament, would kick off on May 22, according to state news agency Xinhua, which attributed the delay to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It reflected an assessment by Beijing that the pandemic was under control and that it planned to get operations back to normal, said Gu Su, a political scientist with Nanjing University.

“The decision might have been made after a safety assessment and it shows that Beijing is confident there won’t be a second spike [in cases] in the near future,” Gu said. “It’s also a symbolic move that marks a shift of policy focus to restarting the economy and normalising government operations.”

As road traffic returns to normal across the country, the transport ministry on Tuesday said a nationwide waiver of highway tolls would end from next Wednesday. The waiver was introduced more than two months ago to support essential transport in the pandemic.

But restrictions on overseas arrivals at border checkpoints will remain in place.