CRI听力:Canadian Ambassador Cares about Coming NPC Session

In about two weeks, nearly 3,000 national legislators representing all regions, the armed forces, and other groups will discuss major state policies to be implemented this year, and a development roadmap for the next five years.

Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques notes that this upcoming session of the NPC is very significant.

"I think this year will be a very important year, because the Congress will be asked to adopt the next Five-Year-Plan."

The proposal for the 13th Five-year Plan will be submitted to the legislature for deliberation before it is formalized.

The upcoming session comes against the backdrop of slowing economic growth here in China, which makes the meetings noteworthy.

Premier Li Keqiang will deliver the government work report to the NPC, which will summarize the government's work last year and outline tasks for the year ahead.

The report normally sets a target for the GDP growth rate, as well as other indices including the ones for consumer prices and employment.

Ambassador Guy Saint-Jacques says this is something he will not miss.

"And of course, I will be following very closely everything that will be set with regard to the economic reforms and how the Chinese government intends to improve the economic situation. And I hope that we will hear very interesting proposals to address the main economic challenges that China faces right now."

Official statistics showed that China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015 from the previous year.
The growth, the slowest pace of expansion in a quarter of a century, was hard won amid a sluggish global recovery.

The lower growth rate is partly due to the fact that China no longer uses GDP as the leading index to evaluate development.

As it undergoes major economic structural reform, China is moving its economy away from its former reliance on major investment projects to one driven by consumer spending.

The Canadian ambassador says he is optimistic about his host country.

"Over all, I remain quite optimistic about the situation in China. I look forward to the opening of the National People's Congress."

China's military budget this year and its foreign policies will also be discussed by the law makers in the coming days.