The congressional session gives Chinese leaders the opportunity to show that they can suffer economic consequences by Covid-19 but remain politically stable.

The National People's Congress (NPC), the Chinese National Assembly, began on May 22.

This is the first time China has not set a GDP target since the government began announcing such targets in 1990. China's economy declined 6.8% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

Li said the government would also "set up and improve legal systems and mechanisms to protect security" in Hong Kong.

The two important policy moves above show that even if China acknowledges that it is suffering from the effects of the pandemic, the government is determined to show that the crisis will not cause it to falter politically.

The fact that Hong Kong has a security law will mark a significant change from Beijing's previous decision to allow the Hong Kong Legislative Assembly to draft and enact legislation in the special zone.

News of the bill was quickly protested by Hong Kong lawmakers and democracy activists, calling it an "end to Hong Kong", with fears the law would destabilize and tighten control.

In addition, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a series of small measures that could "please" people with modest costs such as cutting 15% of broadband Internet access fees this year and increasing

This year's parliamentary session was originally scheduled for March but was delayed by two months because of Covid-19.

When about 3,000 NPC delegates gathered at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, many countries were still imposing strict restrictions.

However, in China, life has gradually returned to normal as the epidemic has been under control since March.

At the end of January and February, Chinese officials faced public outrage at the doctor's attention, which prevented doctors from giving early warning and lowering the severity of the epidemic.

"Now most people in China think the leadership has handled the crisis well," said Christian Gobel, professor of Chinese studies at the University of Vienna.

That is the comparison that the CCP wants people to draw.

"Faced with the sudden onset of the epidemic, party leaders paid great attention and took a series of decisive measures to prevent, control the epidemic and treat infected people," Xi said during the meeting.

"It only takes us more than a month to prevent the spread of the epidemic and about two months to limit the daily spread to two digits. After three months, we reach a decisive result."

The message of success and solidarity will be amplified during NPC meetings, as criticism from abroad increases.

"This is an opportunity for Xi to assert quite clearly that China has returned to normal," said Steve Tsang, director of the Chinese Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

"They will emphasize that if China does not have Xi and CCP, China will be in the same situation as the US or the UK ... the CCP and Xi will drive China through the pandemic," he added.