December 13, 2024

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China sets growth target ‘over 6%,’ tightening HK control

An NPC deputy chairman, Wang Chen, said a Hong Kong Election Committee dominated by businesspeople and other pro-Beijing figures will be given a bigger role in choosing the territory’s legislature. Wang said the Election Committee would choose a “relatively large” share of the now 70-member Legislative Council.

That came after a spokesman for the legislature on Thursday said Beijing wants “patriots ruling Hong Kong,” fueling fears opposition voices will be shut out of the political process.

Li, the premier, said Beijing wants to “safeguard national security” in Hong Kong.

Also Friday, the government announced a 6.8% rise in military spending to 1.4 trillion yuan ($217 billion) amid territorial disputes with India and other neighbors and ambitions to match the United States and Russia in missile, stealth fighter and other weapons technology.

That is less than the double-digit increases of earlier years but a marked rise in real terms when inflation is close to zero. Foreign analysts say total military spending is up to 40% more than the reported figure, the world’s second-highest after the United States.

China became the only major economy to grow last year, eking out a multi-decade-low 2.3% expansion after shutting down industries to fight the virus. Growth accelerated to 6.5% over a year earlier in the final quarter of 2020 while the United States, Europe and Japan struggled with renewed virus outbreaks.

The 6% target is higher than expectations for the United States and other major economies but less than the 7%-8% forecasters expected Li to announce.

That suggests Beijing is “shifting focus from quantity to quality of economic growth,” said Chaoping Zhu of J.P. Morgan Asset Management in a report.

Beijing might allocate resources to environmental protection and other initiatives “to boost China’s long-term growth potential,” Zhu said.

Li vowed to “work faster” to develop tech capabilities seen by Communist leaders as a path to prosperity, strategic autonomy and global influence. Those plans are threatened by conflicts with Washington over technology and security that prompted then-U.S. President Donald Trump to slap sanctions on companies including telecom equipment giant Huawei, China’s first global tech brand.

The ruling party’s latest five-year development blueprint says efforts to make China a self-reliant “technology power” are this year’s top economic priority.

The party sees “technological self-reliance as a strategic support for national development,” Li said.

Li promised to pursue “green development” following Xi’s pledge last year to ensure China’s carbon emissions peak by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. That will require sharp increases in clean energy in an economy that gets 60% of its power from coal and is the world’s biggest source of climate-changing industrial pollution.

He promised to reduce carbon emissions per unit of economic output by 18% over the next five years. That is in line with the previous five-year period’s goal, but environmentalists say Beijing needs to do more.

“It defers some of the most important questions to the future,” said Li Shuo of Greenpeace.

Li repeated official promises to promote “peaceful growth of relations” with Taiwan but announced no initiatives toward the self-ruled island that split with the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to invade if it tries to make its de facto independence official. Li said the mainland will “resolutely deter” any activity “seeking ‘Taiwan independence.’”

This year’s legislative meeting is being held mostly by video links to keep Chinese leaders, delegates and reporters separate as an anti-virus measure.

The ruling party earlier announced it achieved its goal of doubling economic output from 2010 levels by last year, which required annual growth of 7%. Xi has talked about doubling output again by 2035, which would imply annual growth of about 5%, still among the highest for any major economy.

As Xi has sought to cement his image, China has doubled down on repression of dissent in ways that could stifle innovation.

The ruling party’s desire for the prosperity produced by free-market competition also clashes with its insistence on playing a dominant role in the economy and strategic goals of reducing dependence on other countries.

Beijing will promote “domestic circulation,” Li said, a reference to official pressure on industries to use more Chinese-supplied components and technology and rely less on foreign inputs, even if that increases costs.

That emphasis on self-reliance and the conflict with Washington has fueled fears the world might split into separate U.S., Chinese and other industrial spheres with incompatible technologies, less competition and higher costs.

The goal of “decoupling them from foreign technology” is “more likely to harm productivity than help it,” Mark Williams of Capital Economics said in a report this week.

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AP writers Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, and Zen Soo in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

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This story corrects the current size of the Hong Kong legislature to 70 members, not 35.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Premier Li Keqiang stand as they arrive for the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Premier Li Keqiang stand as they arrive for the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Delegates arrive at the Great Hall of the People for the opening session of the annual National People's Congress held in Beijing on Friday, March 5, 2021. The ruling Communist Party is aiming for economic growth "over 6%" as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech at China's ceremonial legislature Friday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Delegates arrive at the Great Hall of the People for the opening session of the annual National People’s Congress held in Beijing on Friday, March 5, 2021. The ruling Communist Party is aiming for economic growth “over 6%” as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech at China’s ceremonial legislature Friday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Credit: Ng Han Guan

Credit: Ng Han Guan

Chinese police officers watch over a bus stop near the Great Hall of the People where the annual National People's Congress is held in Beijing on Friday, March 5, 2021. The ruling Communist Party is aiming for economic growth "over 6%" as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech at China's ceremonial legislature Friday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chinese police officers watch over a bus stop near the Great Hall of the People where the annual National People’s Congress is held in Beijing on Friday, March 5, 2021. The ruling Communist Party is aiming for economic growth “over 6%” as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech at China’s ceremonial legislature Friday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Credit: Ng Han Guan

Credit: Ng Han Guan

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, top left, and other elegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping, bottom right arrives for the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, top left, and other elegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping, bottom right arrives for the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Delegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Delegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Delegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Delegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Police officers use sniffer dogs to check on Tiananmen Square before delegates arrive for the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. China's No. 2 leader has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Police officers use sniffer dogs to check on Tiananmen Square before delegates arrive for the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. China’s No. 2 leader has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, chats with Wang Yang, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) during the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. Premier Li Keqiang has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, chats with Wang Yang, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) during the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. Premier Li Keqiang has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech during the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. China’s No. 2 leader has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights.  (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech during the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. China’s No. 2 leader has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks during the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. China’s No. 2 leader has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks during the opening session of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 5, 2021. China’s No. 2 leader has set a healthy economic growth target and vowed to make this nation self-reliant in technology amid tension with Washington and Europe over trade and human rights. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Credit: Andy Wong

Credit: Andy Wong

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