A time to address constraints

The annual sessions of the National People Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee will be anything but ordinary. The typical endorsement of the annual work report of the government and the central and local budgets will be eclipsed by the approval of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

The new plan will roll out the main policy directions for further reform and development in the next five-year period. The document will also include quantitative targets on key economic, social, and environmental indicators, chief among them, GDP growth. As already announced by Premier Wen Jiabao, an annual growth target of 7 percent over the plan's duration has been set to ensure sustainable development.

The target is slightly lower than the 7.5 percent of the previous plan. The downward revision is numerically negligible, and in any event, given the superior rates of actual economic growth, is meant to highlight the government's efforts to sacrifice the speed of growth for the sake of its sustainability.