The third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), holds its closing meeting on March 10, 2025. Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders attended the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

China's top political advisory body on Monday concluded its annual session, calling on political advisors to make new and greater contribution to advancing Chinese modernization.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders attended the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Wang Huning, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, delivered a speech at the meeting.

Wang said the session has demonstrated the political strengths of the CPPCC and the vitality of whole-process people's democracy in China. Political advisors have expressed their commitment to further firming up their resolve and confidence in achieving greater success in socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, Wang added.

Monday's meeting approved four documents: a resolution on the work report of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee, a resolution on the report on how the proposals from political advisors have been handled since the previous annual session, a report on the examination of new proposals, and a political resolution on the third session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The annual "two sessions" are closely watched by those who wish to understand the trajectory and focus of the world's second-largest economy.

The closing meeting of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, will be held on Tuesday.

The 14th CPPCC National Committee session includes plenary meetings and group consultations, during which national political advisors engaged in effective and pragmatic discussions on a range of key topics, including strategies for fostering the modernization drive, bolstering consumption, enhancing employment opportunities, as well as proposing ways to seize new development opportunities.

Converging confidence

Lan Dingguo, a member of the 14th National Committee of the CPPCC and deputy director-general of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Central China's Hunan Province, told reporters as he walked out of the Great Hall of the People after the closing meeting that he is deeply proud of what the country has achieved in the past year, and through the deliberations and discussions during the "two sessions", he has full confidence in the overall deployment of work in 2025.

"As a member from the agricultural sector, I will continue to work toward the mission of safeguarding grain security and further promoting the comprehensive revitalization of the rural areas and ensuring that no large-scale lapsing or relapsing into poverty occurs in our province," Lan said.

Liu Qingquan, a national political advisor and president of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told the Global Times on Monday that after listening to the Premier's Government Work Report and after several days of deliberating on various work reports and proposals, he felt both "excited and thrilled."

"Across-the-board progress has been achieved in the past year, from the economy to social progress and from people's livelihoods to future development, and rosy prospects are laid in front of us," Liu said.

Zhang Jianping, deputy director of the academic committee at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Monday that a significant rise in the number of entrepreneurs attending the group interviews on the sidelines of the "two sessions" was one of this year's highlights.

"Through the lively interactions between national lawmakers and national political advisors - many are ministers, leading entrepreneurs, people with particular achievements - with reporters from across the country, many of the issues that are of greatest concern to the people are discussed, deliberated and decoded," Zhang said.

Institutional advantage

China's GDP grew by 5 percent year on year in 2024, ranking among the world's fastest-growing major economies and continuing to contribute about 30 percent to global economic growth, according to the Government Work Report.

This achievement has been hard won, according to national political advisors. 

Pu Chun, national political advisor and a former top official with the State Administration for Market Regulation, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the "two sessions" that the 2024 economic achievement has been hard won amid external uncertainties and protectionist headwinds.

China's strengths in realizing its socio-economic targets were also noticed by foreign envoys, who were present at the opening and closing meetings.

Peru's Ambassador to China Marco Vinicio Balarezo Lizarzaburu told the Global Times that one of the major advantages supporting China's economic development is its well-developed infrastructure network. "Sometimes I mentioned this to Peruvian journalists, but they don't fully get it [how important it is]," he said.

The ambassador explained that with strong technical, engineering and design capabilities, China is able to build the world's most advanced and complex tunnels, bridges and highways in very short times. This is one of the key reasons for the country's economic take-off, he said.

In a world filled with uncertainties, this year's "two sessions" have sent an unequivocal message: China is committed to expanding high-standard opening up and continues to share development opportunities with the world, while reform and opening up has become a recurring theme, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Andrey Tehov, the Bulgarian Ambassador to China, told the Global Times on Monday that what impressed him the most during the "two sessions" is "the constructiveness and enthusiasm of the people in deliberating the Government Work Report." 

The envoy noted that thanks to China's policy of opening up wider to the world, more Bulgarians reached China after its expansion of visa-free policy to countries including Bulgaria in November 2024. 

"I expect more direct flights between the two countries and I hope that the cultural and people-to-people exchanges will be further enhanced through more air links," the ambassador said.

Broad spectrum

In addition to China's Government Work Report featuring new entries such as "embodied AI" and "6G," a number of buzzwords such as "AI Plus" has grabbed public attention during the "two sessions", as people ponder on the impact of cutting-edge technologies and their influence on the country's future development, according to Xinhua.

The public's growing focus on AI and new quality productive forces reflects broader recognition of China's technological advancements, analysts said.

In addition to economic topics, political advisors also discussed a wide range of issues, including employment, marine economy, market opening, cultural heritage and environmental issues.

To support modernization, reform and high-quality development while ensuring social harmony, the CPPCC National Committee carried out 42 research projects on major issues, held 85 consultations and deliberations, and processed over 5,000 proposals over the past year, according to a CPPCC spokesperson on March 3. 

Wang Xiaoqing contributed to this story