(WANG JIANMIN)

Legislators listen to the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao at the opening of the Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 5.

Premier Wen outlined major development objectives for China in 2010, including

maintaining the growth of gross domestic product at about 8 percent and creating more than 9 million new jobs.

The meeting saw the presence of 2,939 of the 2,981 NPC deputies. More than 2,000 members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who are on the top advisory body's annual session from March 3 to 13, also attended the meeting.

The NPC session will end on March 14.