The stage is set for China's biggest political gathering - carefully choreographed annual meetings of the political advisory body and the rubber-stamp national legislature.
The "two sessions", which start on Thursday and typically run for one to two weeks, signal the priorities of the world's second-largest economy.
Observers will be watching if China aims for ambitious growth targets despite struggling to lift domestic consumption, and will pore over its new Five Year Plan to understand Xi Jinping's roadmap for the country.
Looming over the event are the recent purges of high-level military officials who have been dismissed as part of Xi's long-running anti-corruption campaign.
Here's what you need to know about the gathering.
