BEIJING — China has opened its annual two sessions as scheduled, with more than 5,000 national lawmakers and political advisers gathering in Beijing to review the government work over the past year and map out an overall blueprint for the next five years and beyond.

The 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) began their fourth sessions on March 4 and 5, respectively. The meetings will deliberate and discuss important documents concerning China's overall future development, including a draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035.

China aims to expand its economy by more than 6 percent in 2021, according to the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening of the national legislature's meeting on March 5.

The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as well as the starting point on a new journey to fully building a modern socialist China.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has put humanity to a grave test. Despite the hurdles, China has convincingly marched ahead. It won its battle against poverty, achieved major strategic outcomes in epidemic prevention and control, and became the only major economy to achieve positive economic growth worldwide last year.

Against the backdrop of all these, the Chinese political meetings have attracted special attention. They are expected to inject certainty and confidence into the world that is struggling to recover from an economic recession and contain the novel coronavirus.

SOLID START TO NEW FIVE-YEAR PERIOD

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, China made decisive progress in the three critical battles against major risks, poverty and pollution, laying a solid foundation for the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

The national lawmakers and political advisers have extensively discussed ways on making a good start to the new five-year period through innovation, developing advanced manufacturing and pushing rural vitalization.

"We need to improve our technological self-sufficiency, and in particular, we need to overcome the technological bottlenecks," said Zhan Chunxin, a political adviser and board chairman of Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co Ltd in Central China's Hunan province. "China's equipment manufacturing enterprises should develop innovative ideas, mechanisms and capabilities."

Private enterprises should strive to implement the new development philosophy and achieve high-quality development especially in the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, said Tang Liang, a national lawmaker and chairman of Ossen Group, a Shanghai-based leading bridge-cable manufacturer.

EMBARKING ON NEW JOURNEY OF MODERNIZATION

This year, China will embark on a new journey of fully building a modern socialist country and forge ahead toward the second centenary goal, which is to build a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful.

Thanks to over four decades of rapid development since the country rolled out its reform and opening-up policy, the Chinese economy has grown to become the second-largest in the world and entered a stage of high-quality development.

China's GDP has exceeded the 100-trillion-yuan ($15.41 trillion) threshold, with its per capita GDP surpassing $10,000 for the second straight year.

With the implementation of technological innovations and applications such as artificial intelligence, 5G and big data, China's economy will form more areas of growth in the future, said Zhang Jindong, a national lawmaker and board chairman of domestic leading retailer Suning Holdings Group. "Digital transformation is an important path for enterprises to break through development bottlenecks."

"To build a strong modern country, it is necessary to do a solid job in the real economy. It is particularly essential to forge a strong manufacturing industry and achieve better-integrated development of the secondary and tertiary industries," said Zhang Weiguo, a national lawmaker and a researcher with Shandong Academy of Social Sciences in East China's Shandong province.

Official statistics showed that the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.6 percent in February and remained in the expansion zone for the 12 consecutive months, indicating a robust economic recovery.

"China's economic prospects have raised the world's expectation for sharing China's development dividend," said Lei Yuanjiang, a national political adviser from East China's Jiangxi province.

BUILDING COMMUNITY WITH SHARED FUTURE

In late February, 34 key domestic and foreign investment projects were signed in South China's Hainan province, with a total contracted investment of 13.8 billion yuan. The island province aims to become a new highland of opening-up through the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Last year, the province utilized about $3 billion of foreign capital, doubling for three consecutive years.

In recent years, China has made solid moves in furthering its opening-up bid. Some of the major strides in pursuit of its opening-up policy include the establishment of 21 pilot free trade zones; the Hainan Free Trade Port; China International Import Expo; the first China International Consumer Products Expo, scheduled in Haikou in May.

"We will focus on institutional innovation to create new heights of openness and a first-class business environment to attract global investors," said Fu Xuanchao, a national lawmaker and director of the Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

At present, the international environment is grim, complex and full of uncertainties, as the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging across a large part of the world, highlighting the practical significance of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

To jointly fight the novel coronavirus, China has provided assistance to more than 150 countries and 10 international organizations, and its self-developed COVID-19 vaccines have become international public goods. The China-Europe freight trains, plying day and night, have also played an important role in ensuring material supply along the routes.

Committed to reform and opening-up, promoting economic globalization, and working actively to build a community with a shared future for mankind, China is making steady progress toward its second centenary goal.