China’s ‘two sessions’: Xi Jinping seen to tighten Communist Party grip with State Council reform, choice of new leaders
- NPC to give stamp of legitimacy to State Council reform plan and new leadership line-up
- The plan is expected to include the setting up of two new commissions for finance and technology, analyst says
The changes were part of President Xi Jinping’s efforts to strengthen the ruling Communist Party’s role in top-level decision making, and tighten its control over the crucial finance and technology sectors, observers said.
State Council secretary general Xiao Jie will brief lawmakers about the reform plan on Tuesday, according to the official schedule of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC). NPC deputies will vote on the plan on Friday.
This comes with a new slate of top government leaders, including the premier, expected to be officially named and confirmed this weekend.
Both the reforms and the new leadership have been approved by party elites, and the voting by the NPC deputies would give them the final stamp of legitimacy.
While few details have been disclosed about the forthcoming changes, state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying that the reform plan aimed to “deepen structural reform of the financial sector” and boost the party’s “unified leadership over science and technology”.
Xie Maosong, senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, said the plan was likely to include the setting up of two new commissions under the State Council, for finance and science and technology development.
