China Scraps Premier’s Annual Press Meet, Likely to Appoint A New Foreign Minister

China on Monday scrapped the annual press conference of its Premier, a decades-long scripted event watched live by the people for any new policy formulations for the world’s second-largest economy.

Also, speculation is rife that Liu Jianchao, a senior Chinese diplomat currently heading the international department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), may be made the new Foreign Minister during the current session of the National People’s Congress (NPC).

The NPC or parliament will hold its annual meeting here from March 5 to March 11, NPC spokesman Lou Qinjian said at a news conference on Monday.

Lou, who spoke to the media ahead of the NPC session, in a surprising statement said the practice of the Premier addressing the media at the end of the annual parliament session was discontinued from this year.

The Chinese Premier’s press conference, which was first held in 1988, is a widely anticipated event as the Premier takes officially screened questions mostly on domestic issues and a few on foreign policy as well.

The premier’s press annual conference at times provided a rare window into the thinking of China’s number two leader, who is nominally in charge of the economy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other senior ruling Communist Party leaders are mostly out of bounds for the local official media and the foreign press in China.

The Foreign Minister too addresses the annual press meet during the NPC meet.

Thousands of the NPC delegates along with the members of the advisory body the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference, (CPPCC) converged in Beijing for their weekly annual sessions to conduct legislative agenda.

The NPC will meet on Tuesday during which Li will present the government’s work report as well as the budget including the defence budget for the endorsement by the parliament.

The parliament meeting is taking place amid declining business sentiment in China as the government’s efforts to reverse the slowdown of the second-largest economy have not fructified.

Li was expected to announce more steps to revive the economy in his work report.

Li succeeded popular Premier Li Keqiang, who died months after his retirement last year.

There is also speculation that China may announce a new Foreign Minister to succeed Wang Yi, who took over the post last year as a stop-gap arrangement after Qin Gang was sacked.

According to media reports, Liu could be Wang’s successor.

Qin, regarded as a close confidant of Xi, was dismissed in July last year in a big political surprise just after seven months in office.

The NPC recently announced that Qin has resigned from his membership.

Wang, who became the director of the ruling Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Commission, took over as Foreign Minister as an additional charge.