Some 3,000 delegates from across the country are attending the Congress
China's National People's Congress has opened in Beijing, beginning the final stage of the country's once-in-a-decade leadership change.
Outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao is delivering his work report, which outlines past achievements and plans for the coming year.
The Congress, China's parliament, will see Xi Jinping complete a transition to president, taking over from Hu Jintao.
The event will be keenly watched to see who secures other top government posts.
Around 3,000 delegates are attending the Congress, including members of the military, monks, ethnic minority representatives and business leaders. The majority are members of China's Communist Party.
Rather than debate policy, the role of the delegates is to ratify decisions already made by party officials behind closed doors, making the Congress essentially a rubber stamp parliament.
They are expected to approve plans to restructure several government departments as well as to amend some long-standing policies on the military, the virtual monopoly of some state enterprises and on individual freedoms.
Vocal public
While the exact schedule has not yet been made public, towards the end of the two-week-long event, Mr Xi will formally become the country's new president.
Last November, he was appointed head of the Communist Party - the largest political party in the world - making the final step to the presidency all but inevitable.
Since his promotion, Mr Xi has been feted in Chinese media as a man of the people who shuns the usual trappings of his position, as well as a staunch nationalist.
He has also been quoted speaking firmly of the need to stamp out corruption at all levels, warning of civil unrest if Party privilege is not tackled.
Also set for promotion is Li Keqiang, who is expected to take over from Mr Wen as premier - the top economic post. As such, he will give a press conference at the end of the gathering and set about forming the country's new cabinet.
China's new leaders are set to inherit a far more vocal public than their predecessors faced, with social media now forcing them to address public concerns more than they ever have before.
On the eve of the Congress, the country's media reflected high public expectations, reporting demands for action on corruption, education, social care, the increasingly pressing issue of pollution and for steps to address the growing wealth gap.
China traditionally announces its annual military defence budget the day before the Congress begins, but this year chose not to. Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the NPC, said the figure would appear in the overall budget.
Early on Tuesday Xinhua news agency, citing the budget report, said defence spending would rise by 10.7% to 720.2bn yuan ($115.7bn), a slight drop from the rise of 11.2% in 2012.
China's military spending has seen several years of double-digit growth - and observers say actual expenditure is believed to be far higher. But the figure falls well short of US military spending.
Ms Fu on Monday defended China's defence spending in recent years, saying the investment contributed to regional stability.
"It won't be good news for the world if a large country like China cannot protect its own security," she told reporters.
China's military might is closely watched in the region, where it is engaged in ongoing and complex territorial disputes with several of its neighbours.
Mr Xi, who has military experience, is seen as being close to the military and has made a point of visiting army units, telling one in December: "All the work in the military must focus on battle preparation."
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