BEIJING, March 11, (AP): China wrapped up its biggest political event of the year on Tuesday leaving one question unanswered: How far will it go to try to revive economic growth in 2025? A recurring theme throughout the weeklong meeting of the nearly 3,000-member National People’s Congress was the need to boost investment and consumer spending.

How much will be done to translate words into action will only become clear in the months ahead as the ruling Communist Party juggles priorities. What is clear is that a trade war with the United States has left the outlook for the coming months uncertain. The meeting ended Tuesday in the absence of top political leader Zhao Leji, who serves as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Zhao, who was supposed to host the congress closing ceremony, was suffering from a respiratory infection and had to take a leave of absence, according to Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the political body. Li chaired the closing session in his place. The rubber-stamp parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the government work report, with 2,882 votes for, one vote against and one abstention.

Similar near-unanimous votes were recorded to pass the budget, the Supreme Court report and an amendment to a law on deputies to the congress, among other items. At stake is the health of the world's second largest economy, a major exporter of products to countries around the world and an important market for foreign companies from Apple to Volkswagen.

A prolonged property crisis has sapped consumer and business confidence, depriving the economy of its past vitality. Now, a tariff war unleashed by US President Donald Trump is compounding those problems. The Congress opened with the announcement of an economic growth target of "about 5%” for this year, a level that analysts said would be difficult to achieve with the measures detailed during this year's Congress.

They include borrowing more money for a slew of initiatives, such as giving 300 billion yuan ($41.3 billion) in rebates to consumers who trade-in old cars and appliances for new ones. But much of the borrowing will go to supporting the housing market and local governments weighed down by debt. "It is unclear how much of a jolt this budget will provide to underlying domestic demand and reflation efforts, despite the sizeable rise in the deficit,” Jeremy Zook, the lead China analyst for Fitch Ratings, said in a report.