The first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) holds its fourth plenary meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 14, 2018, at which a new leadership for the top advisory body is due to be elected. The leadership will include chairperson, vice-chairpersons, secretary-general and Standing Committee members. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Coincidentally, the first session of the Federal Parliament in Nepal kicked off in Kathmandu on the same day (March 5, 2018) while China's "two sessions," the annual meetings of the national legislature and the top political advisory body, were opening in Beijing. 

At the first plenary session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the NPC deputies and CPPCC members are busy generating a comprehensive framework of "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era," introduced last October by Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping. 

With a very distinct make up, the meetings of the monsoon session of Nepal's Federal Parliament are concentrating on the functioning of federal structures formed by the recent local, provincial and federal elections; with an aim to delivering prosperity to the people across the Himalayan country. 

Despite close geographic and bilateral ties, Nepalese are almost unaware of the Chinese model of policy formation and the practices. Rather a majority of people in Nepal feel an absence of "democracy" in Chinese governance because of their old-fashioned and Western media fabricated understanding. 

Nevertheless, Chinese are untouched by the criticism made by Western media because they have a deep faith in the administrative model and the leadership of their country. When I expressed my queries of the Chinese model of democracy and western media-portrayal, Elaine Lizhi Huang, an assistant professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, shrugged it off as if the question was not worthy of response. "China is quite confident in building a harmonious society and a nation without adopting Western traditional theories because we have our own principles of governance. We believe that the best way to move forward is developing our own path," she responded quite valiantly. 

To understand a nation and its governance, one should understand a nation's cultures, daily affairs and history. Most of the knowledge that Nepali people have about China is based on the books written and published either in Western countries or in India. If we observe the history, it will not be an overstatement to say that China is the fastest changing society in human history with growing influence across the globe, yet uniquely embodying historical traces. 

In China, family names are far more important than given names. Anthropologists agree that even the modern Chinese society is deeply rooted in Confucius' foresighted social principles, i.e. harmony, stability, order, or the state as a microcosm of the family. Thus, the two sessions seem to be the enlargement of the same foundation of societal belief. 

The living standard in China has significantly improved in the last 40 years. On October 12, 2012, BBC Magazine published a thought provoking article entitled "A Point of View: Making sense of China" by Martin Jacques, a renowned economist and author of the book When China Rules the World. In the article, while defining China as a civilization state not a nation state, Jacques outlined that to understand China's growing importance on the world stage, the West needs to start speaking its language. 

"The great task facing the West over the next century will be to make sense of China – not in our terms but in theirs. We have to understand China as it is and as it has been, not project our own history, culture, institutions and values onto it. In truth such a mentality tells us more about our own arrogance and lack of curiosity than anything about China," wrote Jacques. 

In Nepal, after the recent three-tier elections, the agenda of stability and prosperity is the top priority. People, like before, seem less concerned about the model of governance but they are eagerly waiting a government which can deliver an increase in living standards, like its northern neighbor has been enjoying for the past few consecutive decades. 

The left alliance is in the majority of both sessions in Nepal's Federal Parliament, which is synonymous to China's two sessions. The Communist-led Westminster model of parliamentary system has challenges to facilitate the newly formed government to perform well to transform a country, which despite abundant potential, has lagged behind in development. 

Irrespective of the nomenclature set by Western media, the Chinese two sessions and the delivering governance model are a matter of learning for Nepal.

Saroj Gautam writes on International Relations and Diplomacy from Kathmandu.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.