BEIJING, Jan. 21 -- Annual "two sessions" -- meetings of local legislatures and local political advisors -- kicked off in January across China.

Despite differences of economic and social situations from province to province, many local legislative sessions have topics in common.

Many local governments have lowered GDP goals for 2014 in pursuit of more balanced development. In days gone by it was all about GDP.

Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong declared that in 2013, the city's GDP was expected to grow by 7.7 percent and fiscal revenue by 9.8 percent. In 2014, Shanghai plans to raise GDP by 7.5 percent and keep fiscal revenue increasing in step with economic growth.

Similarly, Liu Weiping, governor of Gansu in the northwest, also reduced GDP expectations from 12.1 percent growth in 2013 to 11 percent in 2014. Hebei and Fujian lowered growth goals by 0.5 percent.

According to central economic and urbanization work conferences last year, China plans steady, proactive forward progress in human-centered urbanization for 2014.

Urbanization through new construction work is the chosen route toward modernization, and is seen as offering a solution to rural problems. Gansu Province, for example will press on with development of the Silk Road economic belt.

Many local government reports reiterate the importance of quality urbanization and its potential to increase domestic demand, raise productivity and end the urban-rural duality.

Fighting smog also appears near the top many of the government reports, much as in 2013, more than 100 big and medium cities in 25 regions were affected by smog. According to a five-year plan on air pollution, China will cut coal use, shut down polluters, promote cleaner production and cut the density of inhalable particulate matter.

In recent government reports, the environment was given much more weight in assessing official performance.

At Beijing's People's Congress, Mayor Wang Anshun declared an "all-out effort" to cut coal use by 2.6 million tons and transform 300 polluting companies this year.

North China's Hebei Province, one of the most polluted, is trying to cut steel and cement production capacities by 60 million tons each year by 2017, striving for a better environment.