China unifies thinking to withstand cooling economy

About 3,000 national legislators have gathered in Beijing for the third session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), which starts Thursday, to discuss and unify thinking on issues concerning development and the economy.[Special coverage]

An even larger number of journalists, one third of whom from abroad, will flock to the Great Hall of the People to cover one of China's most important political events.

For China, the session will be critical to reaching consensus on how to address challenges brought about by the slowdown in growth, as well as quashing resistance from vested interest groups.

POINTS OF REFERENCE

At an NPC news conference on Wednesday, more than a dozen questions -- including those on military budgets, reform, legislation, anti-corruption, taxation and environmental protection -- were directed at NPC third session spokeswoman Fu Ying.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's political initiative, the Four Comprehensives, is expected to dominate the session's meetings, which will run until March 15.

The four pillars of the coinage are the building of a moderately prosperous society, the deepening of reform, the advancing of rule of law and the strict discipline within the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The NPC session will refer to the Four Comprehensives as a yardstick to drive discussions, Fu said.

WHAT LIES AHEAD

Experts believe the annual session will address how the legislature, the executive branch, judicial organs and the military can work effectively to promote development.

Premier Li Keqiang will deliver his annual government work report on Thursday, which will set the economic growth target for 2015 as well as other indices including the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and employment.

For the first time since the legal reform plan was rolled out October, which mandated governance based on the rule of law, the top judge and chief justice will outline reform measures for the year ahead.

The work report of the NPC Standing Committee is expected to elaborate on enhancement of Chinese democracy and how it is differentiated from Western models.

A bill to revise the Legislation Law is also expected to be put to the vote during the session. If passed, the law will devolve certain lawmaking powers to more cities. It is also expected that the implementation of law-based taxation will also be expedited.

"We are facing unprecedented challenges, with profound changes to boot," said Wang Jinghai, a lawmaker from Heilongjiang Province. "We are confident that we can deal with them under the guidelines set by the central authorities."

Decision making is becoming more difficult as public interests and social demands become more diversified, he said.