Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

SHENZHEN has officially ushered in its yearly key political season with the opening of the “two sessions,” the annual meetings of the city’s two major political bodies.

The annual meeting of the city’s political advisory body, the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), opened yesterday and will last for three and a half days.

At the opening ceremony, the city’s top political adviser, Lin Jie, delivered a work report of the committee.

During the meeting, nearly 500 political advisers will discuss the work report and make suggestions for the city’s central work and major concerns of the public.

Technological innovation is a distinctive feature of Shenzhen. Some political advisers have suggested that Shenzhen should promote new industrialization and accelerate development of new productive forces.

“For Shenzhen, it is particularly important to develop new productive forces and seize the opportunity to develop generative AI. Building a computing power platform with national and even global competitiveness is crucial,” said political adviser Hou Songrong, chairman of a technology company.

Political adviser Yang Hui suggested that the government provide support for the planning of AI parks and the development of enterprise computing facilities. Yang advised the government to plan several AI incubation parks in Nanshan, Bao’an, and Futian districts, where the software industry already has a strong foundation.

The city’s lawmakers also signed in yesterday afternoon for the annual meeting of the city’s legislature, the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress (MPC), which will open tomorrow and conclude Friday.

At present, the Shenzhen MPC has 496 deputies. The responsibilities deputies hold during the annual session include deliberating proposals and motions and reports on the session’s agenda and submitting proposals and motions within the scope of the lawmaking body’s authority in accordance with the law.

During this year’s session, the city’s lawmakers will deliberate on the city government’s work report and review the report on the implementation of the 2023 plan and the 2024 draft plan for the city’s socioeconomic development.

The agenda also includes a review of the report on the execution of local budgets for 2023 and the 2024 draft plan for local budgets.