China sets unambitious growth target while increasing military budgets, why so?

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중국 양회 개막, 시진핑 3기 공식출범과 올해 GDP목표의 의미는?

China's Two Sessions kicked off over the weekend.
They are annual meetings of China's legislature body --The National People's Congress --and top political advisory body --the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
This year's is much more significant in that Xi Jinping is to confirm his third term as president and as delegates are expected to reshape several key party and state institutions.
It's already been announced that China will pursue quite a reduced economic growth target of about 5-percent this year, while defense spending will rise by more than 7-percent.
What significance does President Xi Jinping's third term have? And why such an unambitious growth target, while increasing defense spending?
For an in-depth analysis of China's "Two Sessions," we invite Choo Jae-woo, Professor at Kyung Hee University.
Professor Choo, welcome to the show.
And we also have Song Soo-young, Professor at Chung-Ang University on the line as well.
Professor Song, welcome and thank you for making time.

Q1. President Xi Jinping is set to have his unprecedented 3rd term as president formalized at the parliamentary meeting. What significance does this have?

Q2. A reshuffle of top government jobs is going to be made and one noticeable figure is Li Qiang, who becomes the next premier. What political significance does Li Qiang's presence have?

Q3. The word is that Li Qiang is well-regarded as pro-business and was popular among the foreign executive community during his tenure as Party Chief of Shanghai.
He is expected to bring private investment with pro-business policies. How would such a boost in luring overseas investment in China help improve China's economy?

Q4. The NPC is set to approve some structural changes to the government as well. Under the "Party and State Institution Reform Plan", measures would reportedly include the creation of the National Supervisory Commission --an anti-corruption agency. Could you elaborate on some of the more significant plans?

Q5. Moving on to the economic front. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for February hit its highest level since April 2012, which led to expectations that the end of China’s zero-COVID policy and the country’s "reopening" is going to bring apparent recovery starting soon. Do you agree with this point of view?

Q6. Li Keqiang's work report confirmed a GDP growth target of "around 5%" for China in 2023. This is lower than many external forecasts. What made China aim for such an unambitious target?

Q7. Considering China's rather conservative growth target and expectations around the country's reopening. How will South Korea's faltering exports be affected?

Q8. Defense spending is also an important area to look at. China will increase defense spending by 7-point-2-percent this year, outpacing the economic growth of around 5%. What security challenges are being considered by China? And how do you believe this spending boost will affect tensions in the region?

Q9. The National People's Congress spokesman, Wang Chao stressed strengthening ties with Europe, saying it will increase trade and investment. Could we say this really shows China is trying to boost opportunities with Europe amid intensifying rivalry with the U.S.?

Q10. China's big-name internet entrepreneurs like Tecent's Pony Ma and Baidu's Robin Li and so on have been dropped from key lawmaking and advisory bodies. Their names were replaced by chip researchers and engineers. This sure seems to hint that Beijing aims to win the tech race with the U.S. amid sanctions imposed by Washington. How would such tension between the two superpowers affect South Korea, especially in terms of chip exports?

Alright, that's all the time we have for today's edition.
Thank you professor Choo and professor Song for your insights.
We appreciate it.

#China #XiJinping #전국인민대표대회 #GDP #Arirang_News

2023-03-06, 18:30 (KST)