Global spotlight will be shining on China early this month, as the Asian country is gearing up for the annual "Two Sessions" to explore the next-step solutions to its own development set to unleash tremendous potential on a global scale.
The fourth annual session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, and the fourth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, will open on March 5 and March 3, respectively.
Experts said that this year's gatherings, a precious window for global observers to look into China's future policies when the world is struggling amid a weak recovery, are hence expected to garner more attentions both at home and abroad.
ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING, CONSUMPTION-DRIVEN MODEL TO BRING OPPORTUNITIES
The forthcoming NPC session will see the debate and ratification of China's draft 13th Five-Year Plan, with discussions focused on China's further economic restructuring as a key part.
China's top leadership announced in late February that China will step up supply-side structural reforms and green economy, and tap the potential of domestic demand. The world's second largest economy is now shifting its dependence from investment and manufacturing to domestic demand and service industry.
The transition will help China evolve into a "more enduring engine for growth of demand," observed Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at the U.S. Yale University. "It is more conducive to the global sustainable growth."
In fact, China's structural adjustment has already reaped early results. Official data showed that consumption has accounted for two thirds of China's 2015 growth, turning into a major powerhouse for the Chinese economy.
"This is a healthy and sustainable trend of change," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on his U.S. trip in February.
Apple Pay on Feb. 18 officially began to serve consumers in China, the first country in Asia that has access to the mobile payment solution provided by the U.S. tech giant, which represented a glimpse of foreign companies' interest in China's tremendous consumer market due to its rising purchasing power.
As one of the few markets with robust growth, China is bound to bring greater opportunities to the rest of the world, Shlomo Maital, a senior research fellow with the Israel Institute of Technology.
The bonus of the rising purchase power has also gone beyond borders. Last year saw Chinese tourists make up 120 million outbound visits and spend over 1 trillion yuan (around 153 billion dollars) overseas. Reports and pictures of shoppers and travellers from the world's second largest economy have frequently hit foreign headlines.
The elevation of the consuming power of the Chinese people, Roach said, will give a strong boost to the weak global economic recovery.
