What to watch for as China's major political meeting of the year gets underway

One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China’s legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The annual meeting of the National People’s Congress is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to reenergize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. Proposals to raise the retirement age are also expected to be a hot topic, and China watchers will parse the annual defense budget and the possible introduction of a new foreign minister. But it's the economy that is on most people’s minds.