China's two big meetings
- By Tim Collard
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 17, 2014
In a country with a population like China's, social and economic stability is closely related to the provision of the necessities of life to the mass of the population. One problem engendered by the speed of economic growth, particularly in the cities, is housing. Property prices in parts of China have reached quite spectacular levels, causing severe difficulties to those whose incomes have not shot up alongside them. (We in Britain know all about this too.) Premier Li Keqiang's work report suggested the need for further action to curb property speculation, including movement towards a general property tax to discourage holding of empty properties for speculative purposes. This would also have the advantage of reforming the base for local taxation.
An easing of the basic economic conditions of ordinary Chinese people would also confer the benefit of increasing domestic demand for consumer goods, a further central plank of the leadership's economic policy. Domestic demand could also be boosted by a reform of the banking system, allowing more scope for private banking and the gradual freeing-up of deposit rates in Chinese banks. This would enable greater benefits to be derived from China's historically high savings rates, both for the individual saver and for the national economy.
Quite understandably, it will be issues such as these that the Chinese population will be focusing on as the annual meetings came to a close. But the outside world cannot be blamed for paying particular attention to the leadership's statements on geopolitics and China's assertive stance on security issues. In his address to the Congress and to the world, President Xi said firmly: "We expect peace, but we shall never give up efforts to maintain our legitimate rights, nor shall we compromise our core interests, no matter when or in what circumstances." This does not need to be spelt out; everybody understands it, especially in East Asia. It is a signal not of actual belligerence, but of a determination not to be faced down militarily, in the spirit of the Latin phrase "Si vis pacem, para bellum" – If you want peace, prepare for war.
And the president addressed himself in some detail to the necessary preparations; he does not want these assertions to be treated as just talk. "We should break our fixed mindset to foster a mode of thinking that is in line with our goal of building a strong army," he said, in what at first glance looked rather a strange statement; surely it has always been China's fixed mindset to work towards building a strong army. But the key to his meaning came a few seconds later, when he spoke of full involvement of the market in jointly creating a pattern of military development featuring army-civilian integration; China's own military-industrial complex! From every point of view, the unfolding of the Chinese leadership's plans as announced this month will be well worth watching.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.shenbo75.com/opinion/timcollard.htm
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