The 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, opened its third session Friday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended the opening meeting.

At the beginning of the session, attendees at the opening meeting paid a silent tribute to the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

After the mourning, Premier Li Keqiang delivered a government work report on behalf of the State Council to the legislature for deliberation.

Here are the highlights from the work report:

When reviewing the government's work in 2019 and the first few months in 2020, Premier Li said the economy remained stable overall, adding that in 2019, China's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 99.1 trillion yuan, representing a 6.1 percent increase over the previous year.

Pivotal progress was achieved in the three critical battles, with the rural poor population reduced by 11.09 million, according to Li.

Also, Li called on the country to redouble its efforts to minimize the losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and fulfill the targets and tasks for economic and social development this year.

Read more: 

COVID-19: Premier Li urges doubling of efforts to minimize losses, fulfill development targets

Premier Li also set out China's 2020 development path in his government work report.

Fiscal policy

The country will pursue a more proactive and impactful fiscal policy, Premier Li said. The deficit-to-GDP ratio this year is projected at more than 3.6 percent, with a deficit increase of one trillion yuan over last year. 

China will issue one trillion yuan in government bonds for COVID-19 control, said Li.

Economic development

Premier Li  announced that the Chinese government has not set a specific target for economic growth this year.

According to Li, the decision was made because China will face some uncertain factors in the world economic and trade environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more: Premier Li: No specific economic growth target set for 2020

Poverty reduction 

Premier Li underscored the goal of winning the fight against poverty and highlighted the work to bolster agricultural production, vowing to create more channels for rural residents to find employment and increase their incomes.

Opening-up

Speaking of opening-up, Premier Li said China will stay committed to opening its door wider to the world, keeping its industrial and supply chains stable, and make opening-up a catalyst for reform and development.

To help businesses get more orders and keep their employees, China will take measures to increase the lines of credit, extend the coverage of export credit insurance, lower compliance costs for imports and exports and promote domestic products initially bound for export.

Read more: 

China to promote high-standard opening up and stabilize foreign trade

National defense

The Chinese armed forces will safeguard the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, said Li.

China has made important progress in strengthening national defense and the armed forces since last year and hailed the military for acting swiftly and "shouldering heavy responsibilities" in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, he added. 

Read more: 

China's military to safeguard sovereignty, security, development interests

'One Country, Two Systems'

Premier Li vowed full implementation of "One Country, Two Systems" in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SAR) and highlighted the necessity of establishing sound legal systems to defend national security in the two SARs.

Li also expressed resolute opposition to any form of separatist activity seeking "Taiwan independence."

"We fully and faithfully implement the policy of 'One Country, Two Systems,' under which the people of Hong Kong govern Hong Kong and the people of Macao govern Macao, with a high degree of autonomy for both regions," said Li.

Read more: 

Li Keqiang stresses national security in HK, Macao SARs, opposes Taiwan independence

After the delivery of the work report, a draft decision on establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong SAR to safeguard national security was submitted to the NPC for deliberation on Friday.

This year's NPC was postponed for over two months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 13th NPC has 2,957 deputies.

Click here to watch the replay of CGTN's livestream of the event.

Click here to know more about the "Two Sessions."