China's NPC meeting sends policy and political signals

Significance

The National People's Congress (NPC) ran March 5-15 and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from March 3-13. Both bodies are routinely characterised as 'talking shops' and the NPC as a 'rubber stamp' parliament, but there is more significance to these events than that. This year's meetings come as policymakers draft the Five-year Plan that will shape the economy's 'rebalancing' in the years ahead, amid mounting fears about the depth of the country's economic slowdown.

Impacts

• Policy confirmed at the NPC will feed into the drafting of the next Five-year Plan (2016-20) during the coming months.
• The configuration of power in China will transform as networks are disrupted by the anti-corruption campaign.
• NPC oversight and 'rule by law' are being consolidated through revisions to the Legislation Law.