National People's Congress

China set on Tuesday a growth target of around five percent for 2024, an ambitious objective that the leaders of the world's second-largest economy admitted would be a challenge to meet.

Premier Li Qiang formally announced the growth goal, alongside the overall budget and key government policies for 2024, as China's annual National People's Congress (NPC) kicked off Tuesday.

China's parliament unanimously re-elected Xi Jinping as president for an unprecedented third five-year term.

2,952 people participated in the voting of the 14th National People's Congress of People's Representatives. The Associated Press commented that the 69-year-old Xi is on course to remain in power for life.

China has sharply reduced the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong's legislature in a setback for the democracy movement. The changes were announced on March 30 after a two-day meeting of China's top legislature.

China's top legislature approved amendments to Hong Kong's constitution on March 30 that will give Beijing more control over the makeup of the city's legislature.

China's parliament approved plans on May 28 to impose a security law on Hong Kong that critics say will eradicate the city's promised freedoms.

The vote by the rubber-stamp National People's Congress came hours after the United States revoked the special status conferred on Hong Kong, paving the way for the territory to be stripped of trading and economic privileges.

Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos (l) takes a cellphone photo outside the Great Hall of the People before the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Tuesday. [AP]

Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis met on Tuesday in Beijing with China's top legislator Li Zhanshu and Vice President Wang Qishan at the start of an official visit to the country.

Greece is taking a great interest in the ongoing deliberations at the annual session of China's National People's Congress (NPC), as the decisions made in Beijing this March will have a deep global impact, a member of the Greek Parliament told Xinhua in a written interview recently.

According to this, the two countries agreed to share experience in governance, the development of democracy and rule of law.

Xinhua said this was the result of a meeting in Beijing between the president of Serbia's National Assembly, Maja Gojkovic, and Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress Zhang Dejiang.

PM Ana Brnabic received on Monday Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China.

According to remarks published by the Serbian government, they said that friendship between Serbia and China was "the basis for successful cooperation on current and future projects of the two countries."

China passed a wide-ranging new national security law on July 1, expanding its legal reach over the Internet and even outer space as concerns grow about ever-tighter limits on rights.