Get more with myNEWS

A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you

Learn more

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the closing session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, on March 10. China holds two major annual political meetings, The National People’s Congress (NPC) and the CPPCC, known as ‘Lianghui’ or ‘Two Sessions’. Photo: EPA-EFE

China Politics

The more things change, the more China’s Xi Jinping focuses on stability

China’s president projects stability in a ‘turbulent era’ as he is about to start a third term as the Communist Party’s head
Xi signalled assurance to the coal and agricultural sectors and contrasted the ‘orderly governance of China’ with ‘the chaos of the West’

Two Sessions 2022 (Lianghui)

Jun Maiin Beijing

Published: 4:00pm, 13 Mar 2022

Why you can trust SCMP

In the annual legislative session held over the past week in Beijing, none of the reports were delivered by President Xi Jinping himself, and the top leader did not chair any press conferences. But no one has any doubt whose show it was.

Xi’s name was mentioned 12 times in the annual government report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on March 5. Senior and mid-level officials lavished praise about Xi’s personal leadership in almost every group discussion of the National People’s Congress.

The government report pledged to “maintain social stability” for the Communist Party’s national congress, a five-yearly power transition set to take place this autumn. As traditional retirement rules for party leaders become increasingly blurred, few incumbent leaders are certain to stay.

An exception is Xi, who is set to start his third term as the party’s head, the first Chinese leader to do so in decades.

01:10

Sanctions on Russia will dampen global economy, Xi tells French and German leaders

As Li Keqiang announced on Friday he would step down as premier next year, he said China’s economy would overcome difficulty under the party’s leadership headed by Xi.

The war in Ukraine cast a shadow over the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, and this year’s “two sessions” were held in what Chinese leaders referred to as a “turbulent era” in the world. The government work report prioritised economic growth and job creation, while skipping mention of trade relations with the United States and Europe – a clear break with tradition.

While world leaders have run from one meeting to another to mediate the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Xi did not bring up the war in the legislative meetings but instead cautiously expressed his nuanced stance in two phone calls, one with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the other with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

He did not criticise Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, nor pledge any action beyond humanitarian aid for Ukrainian civilians.

The only time Ukraine was discussed in the session was at the premier’s press conference, when Li repeated the points voiced by Xi.

“If anything, for this year Xi wants stability,” said Yun Sun, director of the China Programme at the Stimson Centre, a think tank based in Washington.

“On top of that, Ukraine is casting a very uncertain shadow over the future of international affairs. Xi’s intuition will not be to act, and act boldly, but to observe.”

Ukraine war: Xi Jinping ‘is unsettled’ by invasion, CIA head says

Differences over the Ukraine war have overshadowed China’s efforts to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic Shanghai Communique it signed with Washington. No incumbent US officials spoke at a commemorative event, where a handful of senior Chinese officials delivered celebratory remarks.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis has also dominated conversations between Chinese diplomats and their European counterparts, diplomatic sources say. Preparations are under way for a China-EU summit expected on April 1.

“The stability Chinese leaders want from the international environment is also linked to the stability they want domestically,” said Dali Yang, a political scientist with the University of Chicago. “Domestically, it’s more about minor adjustments and scaling back policies that have gone overboard.”

The annual government report prioritises stabilising growth in 2022. The annual economic development plan by the state’s largest planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, also emphasises easing burdens for the private sector and expanding state investment.

In addition, Xi injected confidence into the declining coal industry as he called for caution about the new energy drive.

“The Ukraine war is set to cast shocks into the global economy, and Chinese leaders might want to avoid any further possible disruption to the country’s economy,” said Deng Yuwen, a former editor with a party newspaper.

01:09

Chinese Communist Party resolution cements Xi Jinping leadership, putting him on par with Mao

Alongside stability, Xi also has a message on security. Citing sporadic coronavirus outbreaks in the past year, he warned that China should not lower its guard against imported Covid-19 cases “for one moment”.

In a meeting with deputies from the agricultural sector, Xi called for “Chinese grain to fill Chinese bowls”, and warned against “counting on the international market” for China’s food supply.

There is a sense of Beijing looking inward and viewing self-reliance as strength, as Chinese officials hail the country’s economic performance last year at the same time as slamming “containment and suppression” by Washington and its allies.

To drive home the point that looking inward has always worked for China, NPC chairman Li Zhanshu referred to the “low point of socialism” at the end of the Cold War.

China lawmakers have West’s decline on their minds at ‘two sessions’

“When the Soviet Union dissolved and Eastern Europe flipped, socialism entered a low point,” he told lawmakers from Jiangxi province on March 5, according to minutes available to reporters.

“Comrade Deng Xiaoping then said ‘the only way out is we stay unmoved … socialism in China will prove invincible’.”

He added that China’s economic performance in recent years had contributed to an “irreversible trend” of socialism on the world stage.

Xi sent a similarly strong signal of confidence as he hailed the contrast between “the orderly governance of China and the chaos of the West” in a group discussion with Inner Mongolian delegates.

Senior officials have cast their vote of confidence in Xi’s personal status, as they refer to the “two establishments” in their policy discussion on a regular basis.

02:53

Xi Jinping Thought to be introduced in China’s classrooms

These “two establishments” – establishing Xi’s status as China’s “core” leader and establishing his political doctrine – were enshrined in the country’s constitution in 2018.

“It’s a kind of signalling he needs as an assurance of absolute support and definitely related to the party congress,” said Deng Yuwen, the former editor. “In his eyes, his authority is also a strong stabiliser of all problems.”

Among the officials’ praise for Xi, some hinted at supporting his stay in power beyond the near future.

“Walking in the new march for the second centenary and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation can’t be done without the General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core,” said Arken Imirbaki, vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress, on March 5.

Arken, an ethnic Uygur senior official, was speaking of the centenary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 2049.