New Delhi, March 3 -- China's progress in building a modern economy, evident in its kung-fu fighting robots and self-parking cars, is hitting limits as a downturn in its housing industry drags on, small businesses suffer and young people struggle to find jobs.

The gap between Chinese leader Xi Jinping's high-tech, artificial intelligence-driven ambitions and the hard realities of slowing growth is the backdrop for the annual meeting of the country's largely ceremonial national legislature, the National People's Congress, which begins Thursday.

During the meetings, which draw about 3,000 deputies to Beijing, top leaders will outline China's annual target for growth and the congress will endorse a five-year blueprint of policy priorities ...