China Two Sessions: Will China's new plan to boost spending work?

China's leaders are trying something new to revive the country's slowing economy: encouraging people to spend more.

At this year's Two Sessions in Beijing - the country's most important political meeting of the year - officials set an annual growth target of 4.5%–5%, the lowest since 1991.

Alongside the goal, policymakers unveiled measures aimed at boosting household spending - a tacit admission that the old drivers of growth may no longer be sustainable.

In many ways, it marks a reversal of China's traditional approach.

In the past, when growth slowed, Beijing built more apartments, motorways, factories and industrial parks - fuelling expansion through state investment, exports and a booming property market.