AFP, Beijing :
China’s annual show of political theatre, the National People’s Congress, opens this week-the first under a new Communist Party leadership facing intractable problems including endemic corruption, slowing economic growth and tensions with neighbouring countries.
The rubber-stamp NPC, which begins Wednesday at the imposing Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, serves as a show of unity in the nation and the ruling party.
The event kicks off amid much fanfare, with colourfully-clad delegates from China’s dozens of ethnic minorities and military officers in dress uniform arriving at the hall, with the occasional movie star and billionaire at associated meetings adding a dash of glamour.
A centrepiece will be the presentation of various “work reports”, the most important of which will be read by Premier Li Keqiang, his first since taking the position at last year’s event.
The event will be closely watched for China’s annual economic growth target-which was given at 7.5 percent for last year- a figure analysts follow for insight into the leadership’s thinking about the economy and how they expect it to perform.
The announcement of China’s annual official defence budget will also be prominent. Last year, Li’s predecessor Wen Jiabao said the figure would increase 10.7 percent to 720.2 billion yuan ($116.8 billion).
