China’s 10-day National People Congress ended in Beijing on Tuesday amid sweeping promises from the country’s leaders to boost economic growth, support AI and to take control over democratic Taiwan.
Delegates also shed light on Beijing’s intentions for Tibet and revealed for the first time that U.S. sanctions on companies in Xinjiang using Uyghur forced labor are hurting business.
Here are five takeaways:
China aims to spur consumer spending amid looming trade war with US
In his March 5 work report, Premier Li Qiang pledged to boost domestic consumption as the driving force for economic growth, which he set at 5% for the coming year -- a target experts say is highly questionable and likely concocted for political reasons.
For years, exports have driven China’s growth. But leaders have tried to shift the focus to consumer spending after three years of COVID-19 restrictions and a slew of U.S. tariffs prompted manufacturers to move away from China and spooked foreign investors. And now President Donald Trump has imposed additional tariffs on Chinese exports to America.
To shore up the economy, the government plans to boost fiscal spending by 1.2 trillion yuan (US$165 billion) to 29.7 trillion yuan (US$4.16 billion), Li said -- but gave few details of how that money would be spent.
He also pledged to implement “an appropriately accommodative monetary policy” in the coming year.
“The impact of this National People’s Congress on the Chinese people is that their economy is now moving from strength to weakness, and this weakness will be long term,” social economist Ji Rong told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview.
One proposal discussed by delegates to the 10-day National People’s Congress in Beijing was shortening the working week to four-and-a-half days to give people more leisure time.
The government will also further cut the personal income tax rate in a bid to boost purchasing power among middle- and low-earners.
An economic commentator who gave only the surname Hong for fear of reprisals said changes to the working week could prove effective, but that Li’s work report contained few other practical measures.
AI and high-tech seen as key sources of growth
Li Qiang also vowed to “unleash the creativity of the digital economy,” particularly through the use of AI.
“We will support the extensive application of large-scale AI models and vigorously develop new-generation intelligent terminals and smart manufacturing equipment, including intelligent connected new-energy vehicles, AI-enabled phones and computers, and intelligent robots,” he told delegates.
Li was speaking weeks after China’s launched its DeepSeek AI model, in what some called a “Sputnik moment” for the country.
Li also promised increased funding for AI, biomanufacturing, quantum technology and 6G, without giving further details.
RELATED STORIES
Xi warns of economic ‘difficulties’ ahead of National People’s Congress
Beijing groans under tight security as top advisory body opens
China cracking down on Protestant churches during annual congress
But experts said China will continue to be hampered by U.S. export and high-tech bans, including for cutting-edge semiconductors.
China’s increasingly powerful AI surveillance systems use facial recognition and combine data streams to create sophisticated “city brains” that can track events in real time, and are increasingly being exported around the world, according to a recent report.
The technology is also raising concerns about its use to treat patients by medical professionals, as well as to aid cheating in competitions (in Chinese).
Tibetan officials vow to expand ideological education and Sinicize Tibetan Buddhism
The Tibet Autonomous Region delegation vowed to strengthen efforts to fight “separatism” and prioritize “long-term stability” by expanding ideological education, as well as accelerate the Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism, which they said was key to “changing the face of Tibet.”
The delegates emphasized their commitment to ideological education guided by the “Three Consciousnesses,” a phrase used in Chinese propaganda to refer to national -- or Han Chinese -- consciousness, civic duties and the rule of law.
“I believe this kind of education is highly effective,” said Karma Tseten, deputy head of the delegation and Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, or TAR. “Despite its value, it is constantly smeared and disrupted by the Dalai Lama and his group. But we will not be swayed.”
The rhetoric was a clear sign, experts said, that Beijing intends to continue to impose its repressive policies in Tibet under the guise of maintaining stability and combating separatism.
“Regardless of what policies China implements in Tibet, their stated goal of ‘maintaining stability’ fundamentally reveals that Tibetans do not trust the Chinese government,” Dawa Tsering, director at the Tibet Policy Institute, told Radio Free Asia.
Delegates said at a media briefing on Thursday that more than 90 percent of community leaders in Tibet now had basic knowledge of Mandarin.
They also emphasized that they will continue to focus on promoting in Tibet what China calls the “four major events” -– border security, environment, stability and economic and social development.
Top official from Uyghur region admits US sanctions are hurting businesses
During the congress, the Chinese government acknowledged for the first time that U.S. sanctions over the use of Uyghur forced labor have affected more than 100 companies in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region, or XUAR, proving that international sanctions do have bite.
Ma Xingrui, the XUAR party secretary, told delegates that “the United States, relying on fabricated evidence, has imposed sanctions on Xinjiang businesses based on allegations of genocide and forced labor, affected more than 144 companies,“ according to the China Daily.
Sanctions “over accusations of ‘forced labor’ have become one of the biggest challenges in the region’s development,” Ma said during a panel discussion Friday at the NPC, according to the report.
While Ma didn’t elaborate on which companies were affected, this marks the first time the region’s highest party official admitted the sanctions were hurting businesses.
The United States and nearly a dozen Western parliaments have accused China of committing genocide and crimes against humanity against the 13 million Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples living in Xinjiang.
In 2021, the U.S. government has passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans U.S. companies from doing business with Chinese businesses judged to be using Uyghur forced labor. Since then, some 144 companies have been blacklisted.
These sanctions are undermining the economic development of Xinjiang, which is a chief way that Beijing “wants to extend the legitimacy of its rule,” said Raymond Kuo, a China expert at Rand Corporation, a Washington think tank.
“Ultimately, the economic benefits that come from [Beijing’s] rule are going to be the key thing to increase the legitimacy of its rule as well as win over the population,” he said. “Western sanctions inhibit that.”
The sanctions are “particularly politically important for Xinjiang,” Kuo added. “They’re clearly having some impact, right?”
China to boost military spending by 7.2%
China is increasing its 2025 defense budget by 7.2% to US$246 billion amid growing rivalry with the United States and tensions over Taiwan, marking the fourth consecutive year of more than 7% growth in defense spending.
Li said Beijing would continue to “resolutely oppose separatist activities” in democratic Taiwan, as well as what he termed “external interference.”
China has ramped up military activities around Taiwan, conducting frequent air and naval incursions into the island’s air defense identification zone and staging large-scale drills near its waters. Beijing views Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory and insists on eventual unification, by force if necessary.
Yet Li also vowed a soft power charm offensive to push for what Beijing calls “peaceful unification.”
“We will improve institutions and policies for promoting economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait and advance integrated cross-Strait development,” he said. “We will firmly advance the cause of China’s unification.”
Military expert Pang Xinhua said China’s neighbors in the region are also worried about escalating military tensions.
“As China increases its military activities in the South China Sea, East China Sea and other regions, neighboring countries may worry about rising regional tensions leading to an escalating arms race,” Pang told RFA Mandarin.
“That could in turn lead to an escalation of the situation in the Taiwan Strait, as China’s continued strengthening of its military capabilities is interpreted as pressure on Taiwan,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.