Quality outlet malls promise to fill an important niche for China's brand-conscious middle class, who still lack for ways to spend their spare cash, says an article in the Wall Street Journal Asia.
A leading member of the influential advisory body said the number of women deputies in the NPC has stagnated for decades and women need greater representation, says an article in the Irish Times.
The People's Bank of China promised to reduce State control over China's interest rates and currency markets to allow market forces to have a bigger play, says an article on reuters.com.
Beijing is inclined to allow the National Social Security Fund to manage some of the pension money, local media have said.
China's economy could be moving to a new stage, in which consumer companies fare better than its well-established manufacturing base and look for higher profitability.
The euro zone is out of the emergency ward, but it may face a chronic debilitating illness rather than a rapid convalescence.
China's five-year plan for 2011-15, released a year ago, was based on an even lower growth rate of 7 percent, shifting down from the annual pace of almost 10 percent enjoyed in the first 30 years of China's growth.
A reduced growth target that is sustainable is therefore not a bad thing. To maintain its rise, China needs to undertake drastic economic reforms.
Premier Wen Jiabao predicted a steep slowdown in growth in 2012, from last year's 9.2 percent annual increase in GDP to 7.5 percent in 2012.
To avoid a real estate market crash, China has ramped up production of low-income housing. The goal is to "bring property prices down to a reasonable level".
Wen's work report echoed the difficulties of transforming growth and taming inflation while Chinese government tries to ensure employment and defending stability even more of a priority.
China has built its rapid ascent on the shoulders of its migrant workers, but higher living costs and the tough conditions have deterred them from moving to cities, says an article of AFP.