China’s annual parliamentary meeting: What to expect

China's two sessions annual parliamentary meeting kicks off this weekend as delegates gather to tackle national priorities. Here to break down what to expect is Yahoo finances Rick Newman. So Rick, what's on the agenda? Hey, Rachelle, a lot of economic planning in China. President Xi Jinping will be nominated for a third term. That is no surprise. But I think analysts here will be looking for things coming out relating to the economic growth targets China sets. Remember, they try to manage their economy much more than we do here in the United States.

And they will set a GDP growth target. That's important because all those COVID lockdowns in China last year really cut into economic growth in China. And that actually put downward pressure on global commodity prices all the way to oil and gasoline prices that we pay here in the United States. So when the Chinese economy is running hot, their demand for energy and other commodities is strong. And that pushes prices up here and all over the world. So that's one thing to watch for. China has actually been underperforming.

I mean, they supposedly are bouncing out of the COVID slowdown there. But there's some data suggesting that that economy is not really bouncing back as much as we may have thought. And that is showing up in oil prices, which really have stayed fairly subdued. So I think that's what we're watching for is signs about what may change with regard to China's economy for 2023. We know a lot of companies obviously banking on that reopening plan. And then also with China, of course, the ongoing question of whether China will help Russia with weapons, of course. What can you tell us there? Yeah, this is a big concern in Washington and European capitals.

The State Department, the US government has been publicizing intelligence. It has suggesting that China may get more deeply involved in helping Russia with the war in Ukraine, perhaps even sending Russia weapons or other things that could help on the battlefields in Ukraine. That would be a real negative development from the perspective of Ukraine and its allies. So the United States has been warning, hey, China, don't do it. You don't want to get on the wrong side of this war. And so far, there's been no further indication that China may be helping Russia with weapons. So that doesn't mean that couldn't change in the future.

But that is a really hot issue to watch because relations between the United States and China are already very tense. And if Russia got more involved in Ukraine, excuse me, China, more involved in Ukraine, where that would make US-China relations even more fraught. Definitely a very delicate balancing act here that they're trying to make here. Rick Newman, thank you so much. See you.

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