At the annual parliamentary meet, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced he would focus on developing security. He also announced an economic growth target of 5%, the lowest in decades.

President Xi Jinping said Monday that China should develop its security and that it needed to modernize the military to create a "Great Wall of Steel."

Xi, who recently began a third term as head of state, was speaking at the closing of the annual parliament session.

"Security is the bedrock of development, while stability is a prerequisite for prosperity. We must fully promote the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, and build the people's armed forces into a Great Wall of steel that effectively safeguards national sovereignty, security, and development interests," he said.

He vowed to "take the needs of the country as my mission, and the interests of the people as my yardstick."

At the opening of the session, China set a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target of 5% percent, its lowest goal in nearly three decades, after the economy grew just 3% last year. Li said that the modest figure "has been determined after a comprehensive consideration of various factors."

China-US relations
Xi's ally Li Qiang, who has been appointed as China's new premier, said the US was trying to curtail China's global influence through isolation and containment.

"China and the US can and must cooperate. Encirclement and suppression are in no one's interest," he said.