China will raise its defense budget by around 7 percent this year, a spokesperson for the annual session of the country's top legislature said Saturday, compared to last year's 7.6 percent.

Pledges to conform to the CPC Central Committee with Xi as the core are expected to feature significantly during the meetings, which will run until the middle of the month.

China should introduce favorable policies to turn the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area into the cradle of China's "Silicon Valley", national legislator Ma Huateng said on Friday.

New evidence has emerged that prehistoric hominids in northern China might have been hybrids of the indigenous population and Europeans, challenging the popular view of humankind's African origin.

China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 is expected to dock with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab three times after its planned launch in April.

China will remain the biggest engine of global economic growth in 2017, economists said, as the continuation of economic reforms will guarantee sustainable growth of the Chinese economy in the years to come.