China's 'Two Sessions' All About Rebuffing Trump

2025-03-10 07:01:57

(MENAFN- Asia Times) China's most important annual gathering, the so-called Lianghui(两会), will end on March 11 after over a week of National People's congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative conference (CPPCC) meetings.

One of the key objectives of the so-called“two sessions” is to arrive at key economic targets for the year ahead.

This year, Premier Li Qiang guaranteed that the Chinese Economy would be resilient to US President Donald Trump's protectionist policies, including the 20% blanket tariffs imposed on Chinese goods since the latter took office on January 20.

Significantly, Li kept in place last year's 5% gross domestic product (GDP) target, which China just barely achieved even while racking up a huge US$1 trillion trade surplus.

Three policy changes have been notable, namely expansionary and eased macroeconomic policies, a commitment to keeping prices low and a ramping up of manufacturing capacity.

The first aims to increase the official fiscal deficit from 3% to 4% of GDP, the largest ever on record, while also easing monetary policy through imminent interest rate cuts. To be sure, this is not a dramatically sudden shift in policy since the change in tone began in September last year.

MENAFN10032025000159011032ID1109296125

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.