The annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are a major event in China's political calendar. The so-called Two Sessions provide key insights into the Chinese government's priorities for the coming year, and outline the country's overall policy direction. This year, the 4th session of the 14^th NPC started on 5 Mar and ended on 12 Mar. Usually, the main task of the NPC meeting is to review and confirm the Government Work Report (GWR). 

The GWR is the most important policy document of the year as it sets out the government's economic agenda as well as a vast range of tasks the government will pursue in the coming months. The 2026 GWR consists of 4 parts, adhering to the theme of promoting high-quality development, with particular emphasis on delivering a good start to the 15^th Five-Year Plan (15P), strengthening innovation, enhancing people's livelihoods, and being practical. Acknowledging the growing uncertainties brought about by heightened geopolitical tensions, the 2026 GWR gave significant attention to boosting self-sufficiency of the country and further promoting domestic demand, in particular private consumption. As the growth strategies of the government largely remain the same as last year, there is no change in key government targets in 2026, with the exception of the GDP growth target and the reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP (table 1).