As the National People's Congress debates and endorses the nation's next long-term development plan at this year's session, which opens tomorrow, the theme will be the legacy of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao , whose time in charge of the country will end from late next year.
The 12th Five-Year Programme for National Economic and Social Development, as it is now formally known, will map out the mainland's development from 2011 to 2015 and is the highest priority on the NPC's agenda.
The mainland economy is so driven by market forces today that five-year plans don't have the same rough, but iron, grip they had under Maoist socialism.
But the development blueprint still gives some insights into the government's hopes, worries and targets, as well as indicating changing development and economic priorities.
Although the final document won't be published until after this legislative session, the key ingredients of the plan were settled by the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee, an elite council of some 200 members, in October, and some details have been leaked by officials since then.
The most specific detail leaked was Wen's announcement on Sunday that his government planned to lower the annual growth rate to only 7 per cent in the next five years while shifting the country's economic focus toward higher-quality growth, more widespread sharing of the benefits and a clampdown on environmental misuse.