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Two Sessions 2021
ChinaDiplomacy

How China’s foreign policy priorities could change in post-pandemic world

  • A push for economic self-reliance may have implications for international policies including the belt and road strategy
  • Observers will be watching Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s press conference on Sunday for clues to any shift in Beijing’s focus

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China’s ‘dual circulation’ development model aims to reduce the country’s reliance on trade in favour of domestic consumption. Photo: Xinhua
Kinling Lo

China’s political elite will face a number of political challenges when they gather in Beijing for the year’s biggest legislative set piece – the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, informally known as the “two sessions”. In this final part of a series looking at the key items on the agenda, we examine the country’s foreign policy challenges.

What policy shifts and priorities can be expected from Beijing as it seeks to defend its interests in an increasingly adversarial international environment? This is the question observers hope will be answered when Foreign Minister Wang Yi takes to the podium on Sunday for his annual press conference at the National People’s Congress.

Reporters will want to hear the 68-year-old veteran diplomat’s take on the “dual circulation” development model – aimed at reducing China’s economic reliance on overseas demand to keep its vast manufacturing apparatus running. Is it just a shift of focus for the country’s reform and opening-up policies, or does it signal a turning away from global concerns?

Pundits will also be watching closely for any new light Wang may shed on the Belt and Road Initiative – China’s infrastructure-focused overseas trade and investment programme – and how it will dovetail with the new emphasis on self-reliance and home-grown innovation detailed in the latest five-year plan, for 2021-25.
The dual circulation model was first officially articulated by President Xi Jinping in May, when US-China relations were at their lowest ebb in decades and the world was still struggling to beat a pandemic that has affected more than 110 million people.

Xi stressed the need for self-reliance and innovation in a rallying call to the country to prepare to fend off various long-term challenges from the US, by reducing dependence on imports, amid concerns over supply disruptions caused by the geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.

SCMP Series
Two Sessions 2021: what’s on the agenda?
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