Dear Focus Reader,

China's annual Two Sessions opened this week, marking a critical juncture for the country's economic and political landscape.

On Tuesday, Premier Li Qiang delivered his first government work report on the opening day of the National People's Congress, unveiling China's GDP growth target of around 5 percent for 2024. Additionally, he emphasized Beijing's commitment to creating more than 12 million new urban jobs, while maintaining the urban unemployment rate at 5.5 percent and inflation at 3 percent. However, questions remain on how the country will address its economic challenges, including a real estate downturn, local government debt woes, and declining foreign investment.

This year is also the first time in three decades that China's premier will not host a press conference at the end of the sessions, which has historically been one of the few opportunities for foreign press to engage with high-ranking officials. The press conference has served as a key opportunity to explain China's big-picture policies to domestic and global audiences, and some view the cancellation as a sign that Beijing wants to centralize control of its narrative even more tightly.

And despite speculations prior to the sessions, personnel appointments are missing from the sessions' agenda, so it appears that no personnel appointments will be announced, suggesting that current vacancies in the state council and central military commission will remain vacant for a while.

Ahead of the meetings, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also spoke to tensions between China and the U.S., warning that conflict between the two countries would have "unimaginable consequences."

While he mentioned that bilateral relations have improved since the meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in San Francisco last year, "Washington's misperceptions about China still linger and its promises have not been fulfilled."

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