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Two Sessions 2024
OpinionComment
Zhou Xin
Zhou Xin

Opinion | Why I miss the Chinese premier’s annual press conference at the close of the country’s ‘two sessions’

  • A major attribute of the press conference is it projects Beijing’s confidence and open attitude about various topics from foreign policy to economy
  • The way China’s premier fields questions also enables the public to get a better glimpse into his personality

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Chinese Premier Li Qiang presides over a press conference after the closing ceremony of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 13, 2023. Photo: AP
Zhou Xin
The “two sessions”, the annual meetings of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies, concluded on Monday without the much-anticipated press conference hosted by the country’s premier, discontinuing a customary practice that was established in the early 1990s.
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According to the official explanation, the press conference at the close of this year’s National People’s Congress (NPC) was cancelled because there was already sufficient information from lawmakers, ministers and policy documents provided to the media and the public. Barring exceptional circumstances, future press conferences of the current NPC term will also be scrapped – in essence, the long-held practice was treated as unnecessary.

That “technical justification”, however, is not sufficiently convincing. There must have been a good reason for the press conference to have existed for more than three decades. As a student, and later as a journalist, I have always enjoyed watching these press conferences broadcast live by state television.

A major attribute of the annual press conference, held in a magnificent room inside the Great Hall of the People, is that at least half of the questions asked were from non-mainland Chinese media, covering a wide range of topics from foreign policy to issues related to the economy, Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.

These questions tested how officials fielded questions with their knowledge and wisdom. The exchanges, which were sometimes spirited, between top government officials and the international press corps showed China’s confidence and openness.

A stroll through China's halls of power
The way China’s premier fielded questions also enabled the public to get a better glimpse into his personality. Zhu Rongji, who served as China’s premier from 1998 to 2003, became known at his debut press conference for his daring spirit and strong resolve to face down “multitudinous minefields and 30,000-metre abysses”.
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