“Two Sessions” Congress: behind coded language, Chinese political reality

Highlights: “Two Sessions” congress, underway since Monday in China, represents the most important political meeting of the year in the country. To understand what is at stake, you sometimes have to have… “buzzwords”, that is to say the key expressions which become the party's language elements. Knowing how to decipher them “allows us to understand the main developments in the economic and social policy of Xi Jinping and the government beyond the official announcements,” says sinologist Marc Lanteigne.

The “Two Sessions” congress, underway since Monday in China, represents the most important political meeting of the year in the country. But to understand what is at stake, you sometimes have to have…

The great annual Chinese political rally has reached cruising speed.

Beginning Monday March 4, the “Two Sessions” - a congress of two of the country's most important political bodies which lasts ten days - have already discussed economic recovery, the thorny question of Taiwan, the modernization of the army and even relations between Beijing and the rest of the world.

The “Two Sessions” are presented by Chinese media as the best way to understand how “Chinese democracy” works for a foreign observer.

It is, in fact, on this occasion that the nearly 3,000 members of the National People's Congress (NPC) - the equivalent of the Chinese parliament - meet to set the legislative agenda for the coming year.

Last year's session established the road map for more than 2,000 measures adopted in one year, underlines the official Chinese news agency Xinhua.

In parallel with the NPC, the “Two Sessions” also host the People's Political Consultative Conference, a consultative body supposed to give its opinion on the political priorities of the coming year.

There are 2,000 members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and also civil society who must debate under the watchful eye of the government.

The “Two Sessions” thus represent a good thermometer of the political climate in China.

We still need to understand the “PCC speaking” that is practiced there.

To find your way around, one of the best ways is to identify the “buzzwords”, that is to say the key expressions which become the party's language elements, as indicated by the American economic channel Bloomberg.

Most of them may seem obscure at first glance.

What does Xi Jinping mean by “the new productive forces”?

What are the “Three New Things” to which participants in the “Two Sessions” often refer?

Knowing how to decipher them “allows us to understand the main developments in the economic and social policy of Xi Jinping and the government beyond the official announcements”, underlines Marc Lanteigne, sinologist at the Arctic University of Norway.

But these “buzzwords” are also a way for Chinese leaders to recognize half-hearted errors.

Chinese officials “will never clearly say what is wrong, but this coded language often announces changes in direction, therefore a tacit recognition that something was no longer working,” summarizes Marc Lanteigne.

To find our way around, France 24 has isolated four elements of language put forward during these “Two Sessions” which allow us to understand the true vision that the PCC has of the economic and social situation in the country.

Because reading the official media and public statements, it would be helpful to deduce that Beijing thinks everything is fine.

“The new productive forces”.

It is Xi Jinping himself who has been using this expression since at least September 2023. But the Chinese president never specifies which forces he invokes to the rescue of the Chinese economy.

Indeed, he again referred to it during the “Two Sessions” to ensure that they would allow the country to easily achieve the set objective of 5% growth.

The “new productive forces” are “a modern version of expressions used by all Chinese leaders since Mao Zedong to designate the economic sectors which will be privileged”, explains Marc Lanteigne.

In this case, this specialist is betting that Xi Jinping is targeting services - particularly financial - and information technologies with the 2024 version of “productive forces”.

But by invoking them, this expression also aims to put the “old” engines of Chinese growth on the shelf.

In other words, Xi Jinping indicates that we must stop “betting everything on investments in infrastructure and real estate”, deciphers Marc Lanteigne.

We should expect to see less construction of highways or railways.

Real estate developers, shaken by the Evergrande debacle, thus have confirmation that saving them is no longer a government priority.

“AI Plus”.

It was Prime Minister Li Qiang who made the “AI Plus” initiative fashionable.

He made it the cornerstone of the “work report” published by the National People’s Assembly on Tuesday March 5.

Here again, “the contours of this concept are very vague”, recognizes Marc Lanteigne.

The main idea would be to introduce artificial intelligence into all sectors of the economy.

How ?

When ?

And where to start?

“We will have to wait for the details, but the ambition is clear: to make AI a driving force in the economy and boost research in artificial intelligence,” notes the expert.

China is far from the only country banking on AI.

Since the advent of ChatGPT, it has become the trending topic for everyone.

But it is the “plus” that makes the Chinese project specific.

“By adding a 'plus', the authorities want to give the impression that China is already at the next stage,” summarizes Marc Lanteigne.

This expression suggests that Beijing already masters the tool – AI – and is now looking for the best outlets to use it.

This way of presenting things aims to counter the image of a country that is lagging behind in terms of artificial intelligence.

It's the fault of ChatGPT and its clones: all these chatbots are coming from the West and a narrative has started to develop suggesting that China will struggle to catch up.

“The New Three”.

It is an expression that has been gaining popularity in the media and economic circles for more than a year, underlines a note published by the Citigroup bank in January 2024. It has just been taken up by Prime Minister Li Qiang who, at during the debates in the National People's Assembly, was delighted that “the three new ones experienced growth of 30% in one year”.

The concept refers to the sector of solar panels, electric cars and batteries.

“It is not surprising that this expression is being put forward at a time when the Chinese champion of electric cars - BYD - is displaying increasingly global ambitions,” underlines Marc Lanteigne.

The Chinese government thus wants to show its support for a manufacturer whose commercial appetite is beginning to worry Western countries.

American President Joe Biden described electric cars as a “risk to American national security” at the end of February.

“It is also a concept complementary to the idea of 'new productive forces'”, assures Marc Lanteigne.

Here again it’s about turning a page.

These “three new” are opposed to the “old” sectors which made China famous internationally: textiles and cheap electronics.

China thus wants to indicate to the world that it intends to remain the “great factory of the world”, but from now on for products with high added technological value.

And these three new pillars have one thing in common: “They are supposed to illustrate the Chinese ambition to turn towards an eco-responsible economy”, notes Marc Lanteigne.

Solar panels represent renewable energies, while electric cars and batteries (which equip these cars in particular) symbolize the decarbonization of road traffic.

The expression “New Three” therefore serves as a new slogan for “green” China.

“Two Sessions” Congress: behind coded language, Chinese political reality

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