China's Vice Premier Wang Yang (Left), President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang applaud after the foreign investment law was passed during the closing session of the National People's Congress. Photo: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese officials completed the 2019 National People's Congress on Thursday night. Notably, lawmakers passed a bill to eliminate the requirement that foreign companies transfer proprietary technology to Chinese partners and said it will protect against "illegal government interference."
The big picture: The body also pledged greater cooperation with American and European companies on Belt and Road initiatives.
Over the course of the policy meeting lawmakers passed several proposals:
- Cut this year's growth target to 6% — 6.5% from "around 6.5%."
- Increased tax and fee reduction to 2 trillion yuan (about $298 billion) for 2019, from 1.3 trillion yuan in 2018.
- Pledged more bond issuance by local governments to support higher fiscal spending.
- Announced China will not give up on "structural deleveraging" and will strive to keep total deleveraging "broadly stable."
Go deeper: Competitors worry that China is using Belt and Road for political gain