The National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, held the closing meeting of its annual session on Monday, during which lawmakers approved and passed a series of work reports and resolutions related to China's economic development plan, rule of law and central budget, marking the successful conclusion of the two sessions in 2024.
Attendees of the two sessions this year and Chinese experts said that the key conferences have provided new ideas, new thoughts and new targets to guide China's development and opening-up and reform in a new stage. In this stage, the world is experiencing great turbulence and China also faces challenges and difficulties on different fronts that need to be handled and overcome, but there are also plenty of opportunities that need to be seized and turned into concrete outcomes, they noted.
The 14th NPC held the closing meeting of its second session on Monday. Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, China's top political advisory body, concluded its annual session on Sunday, calling on political advisors to contribute to greater unity and solidarity and pool strength for advancing Chinese modernization.
At the closing meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC on Monday, Chinese national lawmakers approved the 2024 plan for national economic and social development, the central budget for 2024. The lawmakers passed resolutions on the Government Work Report and the work reports of the NPC Standing Committee, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and also passed a revised Organic Law of the State Council.
Confidence and hope
The attendees of the two sessions reached by the Global Times expressed strong confidence in China's development while also acknowledging challenges. After the two sessions, they will focus on testing, implementing and realizing the new ideas and new thoughts that they learned and received from the key annual conferences.
He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xpeng Motors and an NPC deputy, expressed his enthusiasm for this year's two sessions, calling them "inspiring." Despite facing obstacles, He emphasized delegates' unity and determination to overcome challenges. "We are united as one, which is the most encouraging for me," He told the Global Times on Monday.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.