The annual session of China's parliament ended Friday with stronger information control and a consideration toward the United States, which has been putting pressure on Beijing to rectify its alleged unfair trade practices.

The National People's Congress kicked off on March 5 at a time when many analysts say President Xi Jinping has faced one of the most challenging years since he came to power in 2013, with a trade dispute with the United States hurting the economy.

In a work report mapping out policy direction for this year, the government of the world's second-largest economy downgraded its gross domestic product growth target to 6.0 to 6.5 percent for 2019 from last year's target of about 6.5 percent.