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Two Sessions 2020 (Lianghui)

Two Sessions 2020 (Lianghui)
Two Sessions refers to China's annual parliamentary meetings, where the two main political bodies of China - the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) - reveal plans for China's policies involving the economy, military, trade, diplomacy, the environment and more. Normally held in March, the 2020 gatherings were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Restoring the economy that was badly hit by the Covid-19 outbreak is expected to be a top priority for China's leaders.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
A Chinese high school student studies late at night for the annual college entrance examinations, in Handan, Hebei province, in May 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE
China education

Opinion | Teaching tutoring centres a lesson won’t alleviate Chinese students’ stress

While President Xi Jinping is right to focus on the problems in the education sector, cram schools are only the tip of the iceberg. Reform of the gaokao system is key to ending the unhealthy over-reliance on after-school tutoring.

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Hong Kong politics

Letters | Hong Kong’s ‘can do’ spirit will not be crushed

Hong Kong politics

Hong Kong’s electoral system changes overdue after years of protests: Lam

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China GDP

China’s provinces set confident economic growth targets for 2021

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong all forecast at least 6 per cent rise for year ahead, but as in 2020, central government is unlikely to set a nominal goal for GDP growth, policy advisers say.

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China’s provincial authorities are confident about their economic growth prospects in 2021. Photo: Xinhua
Li Keqiang

China takes practical approach to development over next five years

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang cautions against ‘blindly launching’ new projects in favour of scientific assessment and reasonable growth.

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China Conference: United States

Hong Kong is now a sticking point between China and US, says Tung Chee-hwa

Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa noted that China had not ‘intruded in Hong Kong affairs for the past 22 years’.

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Hong Kong Basic Law

Letters | Hong Kong courts, common law yet to adapt to post-handover life

Recent developments clearly show Beijing leaning towards strengthening the ‘one country, two systems’ principle as applied to Hong Kong. The central government has never deviated from this path – an obvious truth which the courts seem not to grasp.

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The Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong’s Central district. Photo: Dickson Lee
Li Keqiang

China premier vows stability in face of ‘complex, volatile’ economic climate

Premier Li Keqiang says China’s economy will return to growth this year and surpass 100 trillion yuan (US$15.2 trillion), but faces ‘great pressure’ to ensure employment and livelihoods.

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China's ageing population

Letters | After Covid-19, China faces another big challenge

The trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic have already posed challenges to China’s economy. However, in the long term, a shrinking workforce due to its ageing population will pose the biggest obstacle to growth.

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Hong Kong national security law

Opinion | How national security law draws Hong Kong closer to mainland China

The pressure exerted on prominent businesspeople and companies to toe the line and the new law’s omission of two rights guaranteed by the Basic Law make it clear that Hong Kong’s journey towards resembling the mainland is well under way.

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Members of Hong Kong’s uniformed services march next to a banner supporting the new national security law at the end of a flag-raising ceremony to mark the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China on July 1. Photo: AFP
China economy

China housing boom may have hit ‘potentially precarious peak,’ paper says

China’s real estate sector may have peaked and will likely become a drag on growth during economic shocks such as the current pandemic, a recent report co-authored by Harvard University’s Kenneth Rogoff argues.

A bird’s-eye view of Xiancun, or Xian village, an urban village in downtown Guangzhou city, southern China’s Guangdong province, where prices have risen 10 times over the past 10 years. Photo: Imaginechina
Hong Kong politics

Letters | New security law makes Hong Kong ready for universal suffrage

The enactment of the national security law should convince Beijing that the conditions are ideal for launching the political reform process

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Hong Kong Basic Law

Letters | Who’s to blame for Hong Kong’s new national security law?

The pan-democrats’ failure to compromise on Article 23 and political reform, and their unconscionable silence on protest violence gave Beijing the opportunity to tighten its grip on Hong Kong.

Two Sessions 2020

Opinion | Why the struggle for same-sex marriage in China will continue

The primacy of heterosexual marriage in Chinese society means that there are negative social and economic consequences to remaining unwed. Coping strategies range from lesbian women and gay men marrying each other to couples tying the knot outside China or unofficially via an app.

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A gay couple kisses under a rainbow-coloured scarf during a party after a mass wedding organised by the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) China organisation on a cruise in the open seas en route to Sasebo, Japan, on June 15, 2017. About 800 members of the Chinese LGBT community and their parents spent four days on a cruise trip organised by the NGO. Photo: EPA
Hong Kong politics

Letters | Hong Kong joins growing list of authoritarian regimes

Modern-day despotic governments use the new era globalised media and social media to their advantage, instead of having to rely on violence and bloodshed. Hong Kong is witnessing the noose tighten on its autonomy and heading towards shades of autocracy that Singaporeans are familiar with.

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A Hong Kong police officer holds up a flag warning protesters they are violating the national security law, during a demonstration in Causeway Bay on July 1. Photo: Felix Wong
Legislative Council elections 2020

Letters | What Hong Kong needs is a rational, moderate party

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Hong Kong politics

Letters | Look to China’s past to grasp Hong Kong’s future

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Coronavirus pandemic

US business leaders in China urge cooperation on coronavirus

American Chamber of Commerce in China says two superpowers should give up ‘unbridled competition’ and be better world leaders on pandemic.

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A report by the Centre for China and Globalisation urges renewed focus on anti-pandemic cooperation between China and the US and for strengthened collaboration to develop and produce a Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: AP
Hong Kong national security law

Letters | Hongkongers let down by lack of answers on new security law

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Hong Kong politics

Letters | New security law puts Hong Kong people in uncharted waters

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Hong Kong politics

Opinion | National security law: more questions than answers on Hong Kong’s freedoms

Much needs to be done to ensure the national security law is clearly understood and implemented in a way that limits its impact on Hong Kong’s freedoms. Some will welcome Beijing’s move if it restores order, but even if achieved, this will come at a price.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Hong Kong national security law

Hong Kong security law’s long-arm jurisdiction ‘extraordinary and chilling’

They say it goes further than mainland Chinese legislation and could affect Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre, but pursuing offences committed outside the city may be difficult.

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The controversial national security law came into force in Hong Kong late on Tuesday night. Photo: Felix Wong
Legislative Council of Hong Kong

Letters | Security law means no middle ground for this Legco election

The passage of the law indicates that Beijing will no longer negotiate with Hongkongers, who are now at its mercy. Pressure from the international community on ‘one country, two systems’ is Hong Kong’s last line of defence.

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Hong Kong national security law

EU ‘deplores’ Beijing’s move to pass national security law for Hong Kong

Brussels says legislation passed on Tuesday ‘risks seriously undermining the city’s high degree of autonomy’.

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Hong Kong national security law

Letters | To backers of national security law: where is Gao Zhisheng?

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In this 2015 file photo, Gao Zhisheng walks past photos of his relatives in a cave home where he is confined in Shaanxi province. He tried to escape in August 2017 but was captured and his whereabouts are unknown. Photo: AP
Hong Kong national security law

Keep calm and carry on: it’s the only way to deal with national security law

Given that the national security law on the mainland targets those who oppose the Communist Party, the same could be expected for Hong Kong. Nevertheless, it would be best for Hongkongers not to panic, but get on with their lives.

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A man walks up a road where a banner promoting the national security law is displayed in Central, Hong Kong, on June 20. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Hong Kong national security law

Letters | Can national security law restore social order to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong’s protest movement shares some similarities with those in Spain and Brazil in recent years. These largely decentralised, youth-led movements demanded better governance, an end to inequality and other reforms beyond the national security law’s scope.

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Hong Kong Basic Law

Letters | A Hong Kong father stays on, hoping a better future will dawn

Other professionals around me speak of migrating for a better future for their children. I am torn. This is the ‘barren rock’ my father and his generation – and many before them – transformed into a prosperous city. We have inherited this. Now we must pass it on.

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