People's Daily editorial hails opening of China's legislative session

BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will run an editorial on Tuesday to hail the opening of the annual session of the country's top legislature.

Almost 3,000 deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) will gather in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss matters of national importance, as new state leaders will be elected at the session, which will run from March 5 to 17.

The "Chinese Dream" put forth by the new CPC leadership after the 18th CPC National Congress held in November embodies the anticipation held by the country's 1.3 billion people, the article says.

Against such a backdrop, this year's NPC session has attracted the attention of the nation and the world as well, as the NPC deputies will shoulder the historic task of turning the will of the CPC and the people into the country's will, the editorial says.

Although China has become the second-largest economy in the world, it nevertheless faces challenges in transforming its development mode and deepening reform, it says.

"History and reality tell us that the closer we approach our dream, the rougher the road is," it says.

Therefore, China needs to gather strength to overcome difficulties and advance socialism with Chinese characteristics, it says.

"At a key moment in realizing national rejuvenation, China must bring the advantages of the NPC into full play and rally all forces to overcome difficulties through democracy," it says.