A man smokes as he walks by a construction site near office buildings in the Central Business District in Beijing on Saturday, March 2, 2024. One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China's legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to re-energize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
FILE - Delegates attend the closing ceremony for China's National People's Congress (NPC) as Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 13, 2023. This year's National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to re-energize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
A woman walks by a sculpture depicting a working panda near a billboard promoting office space on a vacant lot of a commercial office building in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan Province on Feb. 27, 2024. One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China's legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to re-energize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
FILE - A delegate in ethnic minority dress stands before a session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 10, 2023. The National People's Congress is largely ceremonial in that it doesn't have any real power to decide on legislation. The deputies do vote, but it's become a unanimous or near-unanimous formalizing of decisions that have been made by Communist Party leaders behind closed doors. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
A traffic police officer deploy cones in front of the Great Hall of the People where the upcoming National People's Congress will be held in Beijing, Saturday, March 2, 2024. The first thing the legislature will do when it opens on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, is receive a lengthy "work report" from Premier Li Qiang that will review the past year and include the government's economic growth target for this year. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
FILE - Then Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang speaks during a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, Tuesday, March 7, 2023. China's government ministers typically hold their posts for five years, but Qin Gang was dismissed as foreign minister last year after only a few months on the job. To this day, the government has not said what happened to him and why. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee adjusts his glasses during a Q&A session for a lunch meeting of the 11th World Peace Forum at a hotel in Beijing, Sunday, July 2, 2023. The person who has gotten the most attention as a possible successor for the foreign minister role is Liu Jianchao, a Communist Party official who is a former Foreign Ministry spokesperson and ambassador to the Philippines and Indonesia. He has made several overseas trips in recent months including to Africa, Europe, Australia and the U.S., increasing speculation that he is the leading candidate.(AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
A woman walks by workers moving goods near a billboard promoting office space on a vacant lot of a commercial office building in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan Province on Feb. 27, 2024. One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China's legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to re-energize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
FILE- Ethnic minority delegates leave after the closing ceremony for China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 13, 2023. The National People's Congress is largely ceremonial in that it doesn't have any real power to decide on legislation. The deputies do vote, but it's become a unanimous or near-unanimous formalizing of decisions that have been made by Communist Party leaders behind closed doors. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
A municipal worker gives direction near a sculpture of a dragon in Beijing, Saturday, March 2, 2024. One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China's legislature gets underway this week: the economy. The National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to re-energize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
FILE - A delegate walks to his seat as they arrive at the closing ceremony for China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 13, 2023. This year's National People's Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, March 5, 2024, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to re-energize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
Chinese paramilitary policemen stand on Tiananmen Square near the Great Hall of the People where the upcoming National People's Congress will be held in Beijing, Saturday, March 2, 2024. The first thing the legislature will do when it opens on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, is receive a lengthy "work report" from Premier Li Qiang that will review the past year and include the government's economic growth target for this year. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)