President Xi Jinping on Monday called for China to play a bigger role in the management of global affairs, after Beijing scored a diplomatic coup as the host of talks that prompted Saudi Arabia and Iran to reopen diplomatic ties. Made a deal.
Xi gave no details of the ruling Communist Party’s plans in a speech to China’s formal legislature. But since coming to power in 2012, Beijing has been increasingly vocal and calls for changes to the International Monetary Fund and other institutions that fail to reflect the wishes of developing countries.
China should “actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system” and promote “global security initiatives”, said Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades.
Xi said this would add “positive energy to world peace and development”.
On Friday, Xi was formally nominated for another term in the presidency after breaking with tradition in October and giving himself a third-five-year term as general secretary of the ruling party, giving himself a lifetime seat. Put on the path to becoming a leader.
The National People’s Congress on Sunday consolidated Xi’s dominance by endorsing the appointment of his loyalists as premier and other government leaders in a once-in-a-decade change. Xi has sidelined potential rivals and loaded the ruling party’s top ranks with supporters.
The new premier, Li Qiang, tried to reassure entrepreneurs on Monday, but the situation is expected to improve after Xi’s government spent the past decade building up state companies that control banking, energy, steel, telecom and other industries. No details of possible plans were given.
Li’s comments echoed promises by other Chinese leaders over the past six months to support entrepreneurs who create jobs and wealth. He has promised to simplify regulations and taxes but has given no indication that he plans to crack down on state companies that entrepreneurs complain eat into their profits .
Li said, the ruling party would “treat enterprises with all forms of ownership equally” and “support the growth and development of private enterprises”.
“Our leading cadres at all levels should sincerely care for and serve private enterprises,” he said.
Chinese officials have previously indicated that tens of billions of dollars have been wiped from the stock market value of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and other tech companies. But entrepreneurs were again in trouble in February when a star banker who used to lead technology deals went missing. Bao Fan’s company said it was “cooperating with the investigation” but gave no details.
Li said Beijing would prioritize job creation as it tries to revive economic growth that plunged to 3% last year, the second lowest in decades. The official growth target for this year is “around 5%”.
The premier expressed confidence that China could face a reduction in its workforce. The number of potential workers aged 15 to 59 fell more than 5% from their 2011 high, an unusually sharp decline for a middle-income country.
