As Li said, the mechanism for policymaking, implementation and supervision under the rule of law must be further optimized.

Through reforms and its demographic dividend, China has achieved continuous high-speed economic development for more than 30 years.

Only when local government debts are under their true borrowers' names will the legislative body be able to effectively supervise them.

There are some who may have raised their eyebrows at China's growth target of around 7.5 percent for 2014.

China has made reform its top priority for 2014 but the question as to how to accelerate comprehensive reform while maintaining steady economic growth will test the new government.

For NPC deputies and CPPCC members, what they say in the discussions or in their motions should be based on careful investigations or research they have conducted.

The early stages of China's reform have already been set in motion, and further reforms such as boosting consumer demand and wider opening up to foreign investment are to be hoped for, a leading US economist told Xinhua.

China has the confidence, conditions and capability to meet its new growth targets for 2014, top economic planner Xu Shaoshi said Wednesday.

Chinese authorities on Wednesday announced the fastest yearly growth in the country's defense budget in three years.

To portray China as a threat because of its raised defense budget is nonsensical, says a Xinhua report addressing concerns over the issue.

Both the NPC and the CPPCC will feature shorter sessions this year. But that will in no way lighten their load.

The annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, starting from next week, are much-anticipated events.

Some are hoping the smog will greet thousands of legislators and officials who will arrive for the two sessions.

"China's newest urban residents - its migrant workers - have jobs to sustain themselves. But they are not entitled to the social benefits in the cities they work in."

As the two sessions approach, China's foreign policy is being given lots of attention by foreign media.