Making sure growth and trade continue in China's neighbors should be a key topic of discussion at this year's two sessions, according to a top British academic.

"I hope we will hear more debate on how China's domestic growth fits with the Belt and Road Initiative," said Rana Mitter, director of the University of Oxford China Centre.

"Although China's growth is slowing to what some call a new normal, many of its neighbors are dependent on China's growth to boost their own economies, so a stress on continued overseas investment should be an important part of the two sessions."