"How and what will China do?" at its upcoming parliamentary plenary sessions has recently become a focus of world media.

As the annual plenary sessions of China's National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are set to start on March 5 and March 3 respectively, the international community has started to turn its attention to China.

The two meetings will discuss and analyze such topics and issues as China's role in the global financial crisis, government measures to benefit the people and redivide social wealth, a drafted voting law that allows both urban and rural residents to enjoy equal rights to vote, and the building of China's democratic politics, among others.

All of the topics and issues, which are of rich, in-depth and far-reaching significance, show that China's development and progress have caused wide discussion in the world media.

TRANSFORMATION OF CHINA'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Last year was the most difficult for China's economic development since the new century started. But the Chinese people of all nationalities, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), worked hard to manage the country's economy. That effort led to the achievement of an overall recovering trend while China was still facing the impact of the world financial crisis. The world's media offered a favorable accounting of China's role in the world financial crisis.

People can give various names when defining the year 2009, the Independence, a leading Russian newspaper, said in a recent editorial. But the newspaper said that if 2009 was to be named after a country according to its role in handling the world financial crisis, 2009 should be called "the year of China."

The newspaper said that was because "China played a role of locomotive in the world economy during the financial crisis."

"The transformation of economic development mode brooks no delay based on a comprehensive judgement on international and domestic economic situation," President Hu Jintao said last month at the CPC Central Committee School in Beijing.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said in a report last Sunday that the Chinese government, after the worldwide financial crisis, has realized that an export-oriented economy with cheap prices cannot tide over crisis of various kinds in the years ahead. Therefore, the news agency said, China is now accelerating the tempo of transforming the mode of economic development.

The news agency added that China should equally develop the service sector and agriculture to cultivate a domestic market-oriented economy.

Referring to the change of China's economy, Michael Pettis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an expert on China's economy, said China's economy is experiencing an important stage of transformation.

The change in China's economy will face painful difficulties and financial deflation, resulting in excessive investments and surplus production capacity. The change also will slow down the pace of economic development.