‘Two sessions’: China scraps a decades-long political tradition as Xi tightens control amid economic woes

Thousands of delegates from across China are gathering in Beijing this week for the start of the country’s most prominent annual political event, where leaders will signal how they plan to steer the world’s second largest economy in the year ahead — and try to dispel deepening concern about the challenges it faces.

Projecting confidence is likely to be high on the agenda for Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his top Communist Party officials during the days-long, highly choreographed event, known as the "two sessions," when China’s rubber stamp legislature and top advisory body convene.

The largely ceremonial gathering is taking on heightened importance this year as China’s economy has been roiled by a property sector crisis, psrms hefty local government debt, deflation, a stock market rout and tech friction with the US — all fueling questions about whether the country will lose steam before it reaches its goal of becoming a developed global power.

It also will include a significant break with precedent: the scrapping of a closing press conference with China’s premier, a political tradition that has featured in the gathering for three decades – at a times providing a rare window into the thinking of China’s number two leader, who is nominally in charge of the economy.

The press conference would also not take place for the rest of the current five year political cycle "unless there are very special circumstances," spokesperson Lou Qinjian told reporters in Beijing Monday ahead of the legislative meeting’s opening day, citing other interview opportunities for media throughout the event. This year’s legislative gathering will also last just seven days, a shorter format than was typical prior to the pandemic.

The changes are likely to add to broader concerns about transparency around China’s policymaking and further dim the premier’s profile, which had already been impacted by Xi’s hardline control over all policy areas, including the economy. Under Xi, the premier and the State Council, which functions as China’s cabinet, have been increasingly sidelined.