If you're a fan of Chinese politics, this could be a fascinating week for you: Time for a pair of annual meetings known as the “two sessions.”
There's the nearly 3,000-member China National People's Congress and an advisory group of about 2,000 called the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference.
They don't determine policy — they're not about political power — which is firmly centered in the Chinese Communist Party, and increasingly in the person of Xi Jinping.
But what they lack in party influence, the two sessions can make up for in clues for outside observers.
Past sessions signaled the end of Chinaʻs one-child policy and marked the coming of a devastating crackdown on political dissent in Hong Kong.
This year, there are economic issues from a tumbling stock market to a deathly financial drag from the real estate sector.
And if possible, there's a move toward even less transparency within China's political system.
For more than 30 years, the two sessions have ended with a news conference with the premier —but not this year.
The director of the China Media Project told the Financial Times that to eliminate that “when there are a great deal of questions about the prospects for China's economy and plans in the government for addressing concerns, does not exactly inspire confidence.”
