After their hectic first year, China's leaders are assessing the achievements of the past 12 months in the Two Sessions - of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the mainland's top political advisory body.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers the government work report during the opening meeting of the second session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 5, 2014.[China.org.cn]

As Premier Li Keqiang went through his 32-page Work Report in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, he addressed the nation's concerns but set economic growth at 7.5 percent and the inflation target at 3.5 percent. In the former case, the government hopes to ensure adequate employment prospects. In the latter case, the goal is to prepare the further liberalization of energy and resource prices.

In the 1990s, when booming privatization and globalization drove China's industrialization, Premier Zhu Rongji delivered his tough messages with a firm face. In the 2000s, when China's double-digit growth catalyzed the world economy, Premier Wen Jiabao included poetic references in prosaic speeches on economic policy. Now in the 2010s, when China must cope with an increasingly fragile international environment, Premier Li conveys his messages with a down-to-earth style.

Li asks individual Chinese to acknowledge the facts and the trade-offs, and yet to keep their eye on the prize - the Chinese dream.