By Reza Akhlaghi
On March 5, the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC), the country’s two legislative bodies, convened in Beijing as part of their annual legislative meeting. The theme of this year’s meeting was economic reforms envisioned and actively pursued by the administration of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. The economic reforms announced in the meeting are focused merely on entrenched business interests, particularly among the country’s State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and on transforming the country’s governance by strengthening the rule of law.
By reforming the SOEs, the Chinese leadership aims to reduce corruption, thus make SOEs more competitive globally and stimulate further private investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Another major economic initiative announced in this year’s meeting was the creation of a unified national credit system through the establishment of eight credit report agencies. You can read a more comprehensive report on this year’s NPC meeting here by APCO Wordwide.