The week-long National Congress of the Communist Party of China has come to an end. 

Over 2000 party delegates attended the event. On behalf of the 17th Central Committee, General Secretary of the Central Committee Hu Jintao delivered a political report. He summarized the Party's work in the past five years, noting both achievements and works to be done. He also laid out the overall goal for the country in the next decade.

Hu said, "The economy should maintain sustained and sound development. Major progress should be made in transforming the growth model. On the basis of making China's development much more balanced, coordinated and sustainable, we should double its 2010 GDP and per capita income for both urban and rural residents. People's democracy should be expanded. The country's cultural soft power should be improved significantly."

The Presidium of the Congress held its second and third plenary sessions. They approved draft resolutions on Hu's report, the work report of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and an amendment to the Party Constitution. They also approved a list of candidates for the 18th Central Committee, and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Meanwhile, four press conferences were also held. The press conference held by the National Development and Reform Commision drew the most attention. This year, China's GDP growth target lowered to 7.5 percent.

Zhang Ping, Minister of National Development & Reform Commission, said, "Since the first half of this year, while keeping macro-economic policies stable, the Central Government has strengthened their fine tuning. The direction is towards expanding domestic demand, increasing people's incomes, and strengthening social security. We have also implemented policies to boost the real economy, in particular the development of the small and medium-sized enterprises, while keeping exports stable. And we are confident of achieving the economic target."

During the past week, Party delegates to the Congress also held various group discussions. They discussed the achievements China has made over the past five years, and highlighted the need to continue reform and opening-up and push forward scientific development.

(CNTV.cn November 14, 2012)