China BriefingUS-China trade war: an elephant in the room for Li Keqiang’s NPC work report

Li Keqiang’s 100-minute report included US$298 billion in tax and fee cuts to shore up the economy, and a promise to leave more to market forces

But it also contained plenty of acknowledgement of US pressure, such as not mentioning ‘Made in China 2025’ and sweeteners for private businesses

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Over 10,000 people – including 4,000 officials at various levels – were directly involved in the drafting process for Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s work report. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:33am, 9 Mar 2019Updated: 5:36pm, 9 Mar 2019

At first glance, the drafting of the annual government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday at the start of the National People’s Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing should have been an easy affair.

It was by and large a restatement of policy goals and frameworks already discussed and approved by the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo. Still, to hear Li’s speech-writers tell the story, writing it was a frustrating, mammoth undertaking.

The report was a long one – it took Li nearly 100 minutes to lay out China’s economic priorities and growth targets for this year, including his promises to cut 2 trillion yuan (US$298 billion) in taxes and fees to shore up the slowing economy.

Senior officials from the Research Office of the State Council, responsible for putting together the report, told official media they worked on last-minute changes all the way until March 5, when Li delivered it.

They would often spar with various government departments over the addition or subtraction of one or two words to be included in the final version.

Huang Shouhong, head of the research office, said over 10,000 people – including 4,000 officials at various levels – were directly involved in the drafting process.

The word “reform” appeared 105 times throughout Li’s report, up from 97 times last year; this was a sign of China’s determination to push ahead with the necessary economic restructuring, Huang said.