The 3,000 delegates to the National People’s Congress, the Chinese legislature now in the midst of its annual session, are not supposed to make important decisions. China is a one-party state tightly controlled by Communist leaders, and this two-week meeting is not so much a time for public debate as an opportunity for tribal minorities to show off their traditional garb.

NPC meetings can nevertheless be useful windows into the minds of Chinese policymakers. In the past, there has been perceptible dissent over such issues as the giant Three Gorges dam and the enshrinement of rights to private property. This year, following the personnel changes agreed at the latest party congress, there are no obvious areas of bitter dispute, but it is possible to discern the government’s two main policy concerns for 2008.