Legislature reviews government reports

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, China's top legislature, heard Wednesday government reports on education reform, tourism industry and rural land contracts.

Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the government will focus on raising people's incomes and improving their economic expectations in a bid to expand domestic demand, especially household consumption.

Zhang reported the progress of accelerating the shift of the economic growth mode to the legislative session attended by 144 members of the NPC Standing Committee, including Chairman Wu Bangguo.

Contributions of domestic consumption to economic growth remained limited. Although retail sales jumped by 15.5 percent and 18.3 percent in 2009 and 2010 respectively, compared to the previous years, the final consumption expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product was in decline, Zhang said.

He called for enhanced environmental protection and further energy saving and emissions cuts, saying that the eco-system remains fragile and energy consumption high despite the positive achievements were made in the 11th Five-Year Plan period from 2006 to 2010.

While commenting on tourism industry, Shao Qiwei, head of the National Tourism Administration, said that China has 23,315 travel agencies, among which 1,387 are able to operate outbound tours to overseas.