Chinese parliament passes five-year economic plan

China's parliament on Monday rubber-stamped a five-year government plan calling for more sustainable and balanced annual economic growth of around seven percent annually until 2015. A resolution by the National People's Congress endorsed a wide range of social and economic targets laid out in the plan, which aims to transform China's fast-paced development model.
The resolution was passed just before parliament closed its annual 10-day session Monday morning. The plan intends to wean China off its dependency on volatile export demand and investment-led growth and build a more sustainable economy driven by domestic consumption and a more equitable distribution of wealth.