China is forecasting a five percent growth in its economy this year as the country emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. Delivering his final government work report marking the start of the National People's Congress annual meetings, Premier Li Keqiang said the economy was still facing challenges both externally and internally. The NPC meeting is held alongside those of its top advisory body, the CPPCC. Kelly Yu is covering this year's so-called "two sessions" and sent this report from Beijing:

An expert on China’s macroeconomy says Premier Li Keqiang's forecast reflects broader concerns about the global economic environment as the nation is still grappling with the lingering impacts of Covid lockdowns. Andrew Collier, a China analyst with Global Source Partners, said the five percent growth target was an ambitious goal, and the final figure was likely to be less than that. He told Kelly Yu that there should be more of a focus on the property sector as that was the biggest driver of growth over the last decade:

A China specialist says it will be difficult for Beijing to achieve its five percent GDP growth target for 2023 due to a number of uncertainties. Mark O'Neill said one of the main pillars to achieve this growth was consumer spending. But he told Janice Wong that retail spending had dropped and people had lost their jobs during the three-year pandemic:

Premier Li has stressed the need to maintain One Country, Two Systems and boost Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability. Kelly Yu reports:

Security in Beijing was stepped as the National People's Congress session kicked off in Beijing on Sunday. RTHK's Kelly Yu said in addition to more ID card checks from police in the capital, the event was also taking place in a "closed-loop system", with attendees required to take PCR tests, undergo hotel quarantine, and wear masks. She began by telling Samantha Butler about some of the key announcements from over the weekend, including an increase of 7.2 percent in military spending:

Labour unionists say the lack of child care services in Hong Kong is forcing many mothers to stay home, despite the full resumption of face-to-face classes after the pandemic. The Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions interviewed 736 mothers of kindergarten or primary school children over the past two months. It found half of the respondents did not have a job, and 93 percent of those attributed this to inadequate child care provision in the city. The federation's chairman, Lam Chun-sing, told Vanessa Cheng that the government should provide more support for these mothers:

An 84-year-old taxi driver has been arrested for dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm after his taxi appeared to lose control, injuring five people. The cab struck three pedestrians in Fortress Hill on Sunday while driving downhill, seriously injuring two of them. Damon Pang reports:

The Hospital Authority says some concrete fell from a ceiling at a Castle Peak Hospital ward in November but no one was injured. The latest revelation comes amid recent cases involving a fallen surgical light and the breaking of a ceiling hoist track used to carry patients at other public hospitals. Priscilla Ng reports:

The Hospital Authority has reminded patients of public hospitals and clinics that they will start offering electronic sick notes from Monday. As Vanessa Cheng reports, the HA said paper certificates would still be available for now but the eventual plan was to go paperless:

After a lacklustre start to his second presidential election campaign, Donald Trump appears to have launched his White House bid in earnest. The former president says he is planning on staying in next year's race even if he is charged in connection with one of several criminal investigations into his activities. RTHK's Washington correspondent Barry Wood said Trump's support base was less than what it was four years ago. He told Samantha Butler that the former president could be up against candidates, such as Nikki Haley, and Florida governor and Republican favourite Ron DeSantis: