China's parliament convenes as new leadership expected

 　　BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliamentary body, opened its first annual session Tuesday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

　　NPC deputies will elect new president and vice¹ president, decide on a new premier², vice premiers³ and cabinet, as well as deliberate a government institutional reform plan.

　　Nearly 3,000 NPC deputies from across the country attended the opening meeting along with top Party and state leaders Hu Jintao, Xi Jinping, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Keqiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli.

　　Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a government work report at the opening meeting, chaired by Zhang Dejiang, executive chairperson of the session's presidium.

　　It was the last time that Wen delivered the government work report as the premier.

　　"Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary, let us unite as one and work hard to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieve the great rejuvenation⁴ of the Chinese nation," said Wen.

　　His report set the country's economic growth target of this year at 7.5 percent and promised to curb⁵ the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase at around 3.5 percent.

　　It also vowed⁶ to create more than 9 million new urban jobs and keep the registered urban unemployment at or below 4.6 percent.

　　The government will work to ensure that the per capita income of residents increases in step with economic growth, according to the report which was distributed to media ahead of the meeting.

　　The year 2013 is the first year for fully⁷ carrying out the guiding principles of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress, a crucial year for continuing to implement⁸ the 12th Five-Year Plan and an important year for laying a solid foundation for finishing building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Wen said.

　　"China remains⁹ in an important period of strategic opportunities during which much can be accomplished," he said.

　　There are many favorable conditions and positive factors as well as a number of risks and challenges for China's economic and social development, he said.

　　The profound impact of the global financial crisis persists, and the recovery of the world economy is full of uncertainty¹⁰ and not yet on a stable footing, he said.

　　Wen warned of a number of difficulties and problems China have been facing, such as unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development as well as increasing conflict between the economic growth and environment.

　　China sees a growing conflict between downward pressure on economic growth and excess production capacity, he said.

　　"The development gap between urban and rural areas and between regions is large, and so are income disparities between individuals," he said.

　　The government has not fully carried out the transformation¹¹ of its functions and some areas are prone¹² to corruption¹³, he added.

　　SUGGESTION FOR SUCCESSOR

　　In his report, Wen, the premier since 2003, made several suggestions to the next cabinet, stressing the importance of changing the growth model and pressing ahead the reform.

　　He suggested that the country should expand domestic demand as a long-term strategy for economic development.

　　"To expand individual consumption, we should enhance peoples' ability to consume, keep their consumption expectations stable, boost their desire to consume, improve the consumption environment and make economic growth more consumption-driven," he said.

　　The premier also proposed to reduce the share of government investment in the country's total investment and ease the control over market access for private capital.

　　Wen encouraged the next government to deepen reform and opening up with "greater political courage and vision."

　　He talked about the reform of state-owned enterprises, the fiscal¹⁴ and taxation¹⁵ systems, the relations between the central government and local governments, financial industry, the investment and financing systems as well as public institutions.

　　Particularly, he noted¹⁶ that the government has issued guidelines on deepening reform of the income distribution system and now needs to promptly¹⁷ formulate¹⁸ specific policies.

　　At this national legislative¹⁹ session, deputies will deliberate an institutional restructuring of the State Council.

　　Wen called on the government to continue transforming functions, separate the administration from the management of enterprises, state assets, public institutions and social organizations, in a bid to build a "well-structured, clean, efficient and service-oriented government."

　　FRUITFUL FIVE YEARS

　　The past five years since the first session of the 11th NPC were a "truly extraordinary period of time" in the course of China's development, Premier Wen said.

　　Pulling through the global financial crisis, the country's GDP increased from 26.6 trillion yuan (4.22 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2007 to 51.9 trillion yuan (8.24 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2012, now the world's second largest, according to Wen's report.

　　Government revenue increased from 5.1 trillion yuan to 11.7 trillion yuan while a total of 58.7 million urban jobs were created.

　　The per capita disposable income of urban residents rose by 8.8 percent annually²⁰, and the per capita net income of rural residents rose by 9.9 percent.

　　China is more innovative²¹, the report said. Breakthroughs were made in developing manned space flight and the lunar exploration program, building a manned deep-sea submersible, launching the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, developing supercomputers and building high-speed railways.

　　China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was commissioned last year.

　　The country also successfully hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing and the World Expo in Shanghai.

　　It stood against serious challenges from the massive Wenchuan earthquake, the strong Yushu earthquake and the huge Zhugqu mudslide, and effectively carried out rehabilitation²².

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

3 premiers   

n.总理，首相( premier的名词复数 )；首席官员，

参考例句：

• The Vice- Premiers and State Councillors assist the Premier in his work. 副总理、国务委员协助总理工作。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• The Premier, Vice-Premiers and State Councillors shall serve no more than two consecutive terms. 总理、副总理、国务委员连续任职不得超过两届。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

4 rejuvenation   

n. 复原，再生, 更新, 嫩化, 恢复

参考例句：

• Prolonged starvation and aging might lead to rejuvenation of embryogenic potential. 长期的饥饿和衰老可以导致胚胎发生能力的复壮。
• All this signs rejuvenation of agriculture. 所有这些都预示着农业将复苏。

5 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

12 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

15 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

18 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

19 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

20 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

21 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

22 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。