Five tough challenges for China

This year's sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has come during an important moment of China's history.

China has not only weathered the global economic crisis, but also achieved an impressive 8.7 percent GDP growth last year while most other countries were still in recession or barely recorded positive growth. It is likely to become the world's second largest economy, overtaking Japan. These developments testify to the rapid advance China has made since launching the reform and opening up.

The NPC as China's top legislature and the CPPCC as its top political advisory body have a decisive role to play in maintaining continuous economic growth and building a harmonious society. The deputies to the NPC and members of the CPPCC have discussed many issues and how to resolve them, but there are some other challenges that they have to meet.