National Assembly of People's Deputies opened

The annual session of the Chinese Parliament is being held in Beijing, at which MPs discuss their vision of the development of the Chinese economy and metallurgy, in particular, for the next year. The Great Hall of the People's Assembly in Beijing gathered thousands of delegates for the nine-day convention.

During the opening of the National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang presented a government report, focusing on the country's economic development. The Chinese prime minister spoke of the need for a free trade agreement with the world's largest economies, including the United States, Australia and South Korea.

Increased demand is both an important driver of economic growth and a basis for structural adjustment, he said. The prime minister said: "We must make economic development central and maintain an appropriate growth rate. Based on careful analysis and repeated rethinking of various factors, as well as considering our capabilities, we have set ourselves a growth target of around 7.5 percent."

He also said that how environmental pollution from energy and metallurgical enterprises became a huge problem for the country and caused social unrest. Changes in these industries are expected to result in slower but more sustainable growth rates.

The world's second largest economy grew 7.7 percent in 2013, the same as in 2012, the worst growth rate since 1999. Unemployment was also one of the main problems for the country, and therefore a target was set for urban areas of no more than 4.6 percent. Lee said the government will keep the consumer price index (CPI) around 3.5 percent, the same as last year.