What are the key takeaways from China's 2025 Two Sessions event?

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe interviewed Rana Mitter, Chair in US-Asia relations at the Harvard Kennedy school

Transcript

00:00Let's talk to Rana Mitter, who's chair of US-Asia relations at the Harvard Kennedy School.

00:05Great to see you, Rana.

00:06Now, look, some ambitious measures were set out to stoke growth at two sessions.

00:11What stands out to you?

00:14The thing, I think, Julia, that stood out most was the really, you know, 100% emphasis on technology, first and foremost.

00:20It's clearly two sessions that has concentrated on innovation.

00:24I mean, you had your report there from Jen talking about humanoid robots and AI.

00:29This is sort of the glamour side of things, in a sense.

00:31I mean, I hope that was, in fact, Jen and not a humanoid robot who was actually reporting to us from Beijing.

00:36We don't know. I'm sure it wasn't.

00:38But the kind of hard, gritty reality is that China still has some major issues to overcome.

00:44Youth unemployment and underemployment in the cities.

00:47The countryside is much less better at improving human capital.

00:51You know, the kind of quality of work and life compared to the cities.

00:55And the question is, how is the undoubted innovation of China's technology, this world-breaking technology,

01:00actually going to help those people living out in the countryside or living in third-tier cities?

01:05So that's the key question.

01:06And I think that the NPC will be thinking next about how to actually get that kind of glamorous tech into real economic action.

01:14It's interesting you talk about that because Chinese leaders were quite frank about the challenges ahead this year's two sessions.

01:20At home and abroad, where do you see the pressure points?

01:25I think there are several.

01:26The first one is the uncertainty of the relationship with the United States.

01:30Now, I use that word uncertainty in a literal sense because, actually, I've been speaking to quite a few people,

01:35you know, in Beijing and Washington, who actually say that the relationship may get better, not worse, than people think.

01:41There's a lot of pressure being put at the moment on tariffs, of course.

01:45I mean, that's the main headline story.

01:47But many people think that's a negotiating point rather than necessarily the end point.

01:50And it's a question of where that ends up.

01:52So I think the Chinese economic authorities will want to know where that tariff story is going to end up.

01:58The second issue is to do with rising expectations.

02:01China's middle class has been getting better off decade by decade, really since the 1970s.

02:06But there's a fear that maybe the top of that escalator has been reached.

02:11So if technology is going to be the story, then the question of how that actually creates new jobs,

02:16where does AI actually change the labor market, particularly as China's demographics makes the country older

02:23at quite a high speed in the next few decades or so.

02:26Really big thing questions, Juliet.

02:28These are not questions that can be answered overnight, but they'll have to be firmly in the focus of China's leaders.

02:33Well, if technology is the story, as you say, with that huge focus on AI and the industries of the future,

02:40what signal do you think that sends to the rest of the world?

02:44I think it's one that actually is quite carefully calibrated.

02:47Right now, it looks as if things are uncertain in terms of where a major player like Europe might go.

02:53So Europe is currently the world's largest and probably richest market that doesn't know yet

02:59whether it's going to swing more towards the United States or more towards China or more autonomously.

03:03I'm talking about electric vehicles. I'm talking about life sciences.

03:06I'm talking about actually some more cutting edge areas like quantum.

03:10If China has a story that it can sell to Europe, that may be part of its hedging against the fact that

03:18U.S.-China relationships in tech, at least, are not likely to be that close at the moment.

03:23I think the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and China might actually get warmer in the near future.

03:27At least it might become more stable, but that's not the same thing as tech cooperation.

03:31So I'd be very interested to see what reactions are coming out of London, coming out of Brussels,

03:35places close to where you are, Juliet, in terms of that China tech story.

03:39Rana Mitter, always a treat talking to you. Thank you very much.

03:43Thanks.

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