China starts parliament session amid concerns over economic recovery

BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress (NPC), the country's parliament, started its annual full session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday morning.

The Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2010. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

In his work report to the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's parliament, Wen set this year's economic growth target at "about 8 percent."

China's economy expanded 8.7 percent in 2009, staging a faster-than-expected recovery after being hit by the worst global financial crisis in decades thanks to a raft of stimulus measures.

To achieve "sound development," the government needs to guide all sectors to focus on transforming economic growth pattern and restructuring economy, he said.

Wen acknowledged that 2010 is a "crucial year" for continuing to deal with the global financial crisis, maintaining "steady and rapid" economic development, and accelerating the transformation of growth pattern.

It is also an important year for achieving all the targets of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) and laying a solid development foundation for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), he said.

"Although this year's development environment may be better than last year's, we still face a very complex situation," Wen told nearly 3,000 NPC deputies gathering at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

Other key economic and social targets this year included creating more than 9 million jobs in cities, keeping urban registered unemployment rate under 4.6 percent and keeping the rise in consumer prices at about 3 percent.