China’s Two Sessions: Staying the Course as Global Alliances Shift
- Annika Lilja
- Apr 6
- 4 min read
Written by Anoushka Patel
Edited by Annika Lilja
As US President Trump made his State of the Union Address, across the Pacific, a starkly different vision of the future was being laid out.
On Wednesday 5th of March, China’s annual ‘Two Sessions’ - known as Liang Hui in Mandarin - kicked off. The event is called the ‘Two Sessions’ because both the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) hold their annual meetings separately, but simultaneously. The week-long annual meeting is considered to be instrumental in outlining China’s policy programme, which the world will want to watch keenly, given that many economies are increasingly intertwined with China’s.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang set out the government’s key priorities in his Work Report, or fiscal health check, which repeated the 2024 growth target of “around 5%” and revealed that military spending is expected to rise by 7.2%. Arguably, keeping the growth target the same as last year, despite a more challenging external environment, is a show of confidence in the economy and a harbinger of stronger policy support for domestic demand, which China vowed to make the “machine engine and anchor” of its economic growth.
Previous Two Sessions gatherings have hosted hugely significant policy changes, such as the formalisation of Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term as leader in 2023. However, this year is arguably more significant than most. China has been facing a struggling economy, a property crisis and high youth unemployment, even before US President Trump’s 10% tariffs on Chinese imports came into effect, compounding the 10% tariff imposed in early February.
In a tit-for-tat move, Beijing retaliated almost immediately, announcing 15% tariffs on imports of American chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, as well as 10% on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
However, despite rhetoric around the USA being hawkish, with foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian declaring that “China would fight to the bitter end of any trade war”, Beijing has been wary of provoking Trump into targeting Chinese exports, which have supported the country’s growth despite flailing domestic conditions.
Nonetheless, Qiang took aim at President Trump’s ‘America First’ doctrine, citing the “increasingly complex and severe external environment” supposedly created by America. In stark contrast with the recent actions of Trump, Qiang emphasised China’s commitment to opening up and pursuing “an independent foreign policy of peace”, as well as opposing “unilateralism and protectionism in all forms.”
As part of this, China may seek to exploit divisions between the US and its allies, who are growing increasingly concerned over Donald Trump’s foreign policy approach - namely, his imperialist designs on Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal, his imposition of tariffs on numerous allies, the dismantling of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development) and his increasingly hostile stance towards Ukraine and Palestine. The 2025 Work Report highlights ten key priorities for the government, including expanding “high-level opening up” through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s decade-old infrastructure and investment project with links to around 150 countries. This can be seen as an expansion of China’s soft power, and a way of counteracting the impact of US tariffs on exports by securing beneficial trade agreements.
Beijing will also be watching Trump’s actions in Ukraine closely, given that President Xi Jinping has reiterated his desire to annex Taiwan, potentially as soon as 2027 according to some analysts. Wednesday’s Work Report affirmed Beijing’s ambitions to “resolve the Taiwan question” and “firmly advance the cause of China’s reunification.” According to The Guardian, under the previous administration, Biden had promised that US forces would protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
However, with Trump’s commitment to scaling back defence spending abroad, and his refusal to comment on whether the US would defend Taiwan at a cabinet meeting in February, Beijing may be emboldened to take over Taiwan while its main defender is seemingly lukewarm to the prospect of military engagement.
According to The Times, Li’s Work Report talked extensively of attracting foreign investment, boosting food security, unleashing the creativity of “future industries,” and investing $100 billion into new infrastructure projects. Further to this, China will issue $180 billion in special treasury bonds, as well as $600 billion in local government special-purpose bonds to offset the negative effects of falling tax revenues and depressed land sales.
But analysts, such as Julian Evans-Prichard, Head of China Economics at Capital Economics, doubt these measures adequately address the underlying reasons for lagging consumption: public anxiety about future earnings amid a turbulent economy and the falling values of real estate, which forms the principal store of household wealth.
Overall, this year’s Two Sessions saw little deviation from previous years’ policy programmes, signalling a strategy of continuity and incremental change, which is characteristic of Chinese policy under Xi. Yet, whether this stable strategy will persevere amidst an increasingly fraught geopolitical climate will yet to be seen.
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