BEIJING - After three years of strict Covid-19 controls that had largely kept visitors out and at times shuttered businesses, out-of-town tourists are back in Beijing in droves, thronging the Forbidden City to pose for pictures under a large Mao Zedong portrait.
The city of 21 million heaves daily from traffic congestion, while long lines form outside restaurants. It looks as if the capital city is back in business after the country decided to abandon its strict zero-Covid policy in December.
But to the thousands of delegates who have arrived in Beijing to attend the annual parliamentary sessions known as Two Sessions, or lianghui, and the foreign and domestic journalists covering them, it is not business as usual despite China’s reopening.
This is also the first lianghui since the ruling Communist Party of China’s 20th Congress last October, when President Xi Jinping secured a rare and controversial third term and further consolidated his power by removing opposing political factions.
Participants of the meetings, which will last about 10 days, are subjected to two nucleic acid tests to be taken within 48 hours before they enter the capital city, if they are travelling from outside Beijing.
Like in recent years, delegates enter a “closed loop” during the lianghui period.
Reporters have to check into a designated hotel and undergo Covid-19 testing a day before press conferences and opening ceremonies.
Around the capital city, security has been stepped up as well, as is the norm in the lead-up to and during important political events.
Police tents have been set up along bridges, with residents and tourists needing to scan their identity cards at police checkpoints before being allowed entry into popular attractions such as Qianmen shopping street.
Travellers to Beijing are experiencing tighter security measures as well, with at least two extra rounds of checks at train stations, including one upon entering the capital city.
At the first event of the 2023 lianghui – a press conference by the top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), on Friday – questions from the media largely focused on China’s economic growth, which is expected to figure large at the meetings.
Now that China has declared a “decisive victory” over Covid-19, CPPCC delegates – representatives drawn from a broad swathe of sectors such as academia, technology and social services – will be submitting many proposals and suggestions to help boost growth, said the advisory body’s spokesman Guo Weimin.
For example, China currently faces the challenges of creating enough jobs for the 11.58 million graduates in 2023 – a record high – and a skills mismatch in the labour force, Mr Guo said, adding that delegates will come up with proposals on how to better help companies and bring in foreign investment to stabilise the job market.
The world’s second-largest economy grew 3 per cent in 2022 – the first time it missed its stated target of “around 5.5 per cent” by such a large margin.
This was largely due to the country’s former zero-Covid policy, which severely disrupted growth with strict quarantines and flash lockdowns.
The press conference was also the first one since the pandemic to be held in person at the Great Hall of the People. In the past three years, reporters had to quarantine at a hotel before attending the press conference virtually.
