Some 370 top members of China's ruling Communist Party opened a key meeting on Friday to set long-term economic and social policies, dpa reported.
The four-day meeting will focus on an economic development plan for the next five years, a period that will be "critical for building a moderately prosperous society," the party's 24-member Politburo said after it agreed the draft plan last month.
The official Xinhua news agency said the meeting was of "great importance" and that delegates would "analyze domestic and international situations and set the guidelines, goals, tasks and key measures for the next five years."
The 2011-2015 period will be "a time of difficult issues for deepening the reform and opening-up process while accelerating the transformation of the nation's economic development pattern," the Politburo said in its statement.
The plan is expected to outline measures to maintain economic growth while spreading its benefits and reducing environmental degradation, supporting agriculture and improving rural social security.
China has tried to stimulate domestic demand and reduce the nation's economic dependence on its exports in recent years.
It has promoted the new policies under the ideology of state president and party leader Hu Jintao's "scientific outlook on development" which underpins China's emphasis in recent years on environmental protection and sustainable development.
The Central Committee is also expected to discuss several leadership posts, including the anticipated promotion of Vice President Xi Jinping to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Xi's appointment to the military post would be another signal that he is Hu's most likely successor in 2012.