The first plenary session of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held a press conference Thursday with the focus on high quality growth. Let's hear what some of the CPPCC members had to say.

QIAN YINGYI CPPCC MEMBER "This year's growth target is 6.5 percent, that's four tenths of a percentage point lower than last year's real growth of 6.9 percent. This leaves us room to transform from high-speed growth to high-quality growth. The target is lower but high-quality growth is harder than simply GDP growth, so there is more pressure and challenges."

YANG WEIMIN CPPCC MEMBER "High quality means high efficiency of input and high profits. Many Chinese products are leading the world in quantity, but we are lagging in quality, so we need to pursue high-quality growth. High-quality growth needs policy support. We haven't built such a policy system yet, but some government agencies are taking measures. There are few listed high-quality innovative companies and now the government is supporting unicorn companies to go public."

HU XIAOLIAN CPPCC MEMBER "Chinese outbound investment exceeded 124 billion US dollars last year. Investment quality also improved. We used to invest in clubs and entertainment projects, but we were investing more in technology and green field investment in 2017. The construction project contracts increased 8 percent last year. We also see transformations and upgrades in this area. Our companies used to do only the physical construction work, but now they are engaging in the investment and post-investment operations. The profits also increased."