School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.
Int J Health Serv. 2012;42(4):755-63. doi: 10.2190/HS.42.4.j.
The fifth and final session of China's Eleventh National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament, was held in Beijing from March 5 to March 14, 2012. Several episodes stand out in this year's session. One is the abrupt dismissal immediately after the session of Bo Xilai, party chief of a major Chinese municipality and Politburo member. That has been arguably linked to the political and economic model he championed, which incorporated redistributive social policies and proactive government intervention. Also worthy of note is that nearly all NPC delegate seats are occupied by the country's elites, while working people are overwhelmingly under-represented, if not unrepresented. Last but not least, although neoliberalism has been widely discredited since the global economic crisis, the government work report delivered at this year's NPC session signals further embracement of private investment--not only domestic, but also foreign--in key industries and social services controlled by the state. These episodes merit reflection as they send important messages about the challenges facing the country's political economy now and in the future.
第十一届全国人民代表大会第五次会议于 2012 年 3 月 5 日至 14 日在北京举行。今年的会议有几个突出的特点。一个是会议结束后不久，中国一个主要城市的党委书记和政治局委员薄熙来被突然免职。这可能与他所倡导的政治和经济模式有关，该模式包含了再分配社会政策和积极的政府干预。同样值得注意的是，几乎所有的全国人民代表大会代表席位都被中国的精英占据，而工人阶级则严重代表不足，如果不是没有代表的话。最后但同样重要的是，尽管新自由主义自全球经济危机以来已广受诟病，但今年全国人民代表大会会议上提交的政府工作报告显示，政府将进一步欢迎私人投资——不仅是国内的，还有国外的——进入国家控制的关键产业和社会服务领域。这些事件值得反思，因为它们传递了关于中国政治经济当前和未来面临的挑战的重要信息。
