India, March 13 -- China's Parliament on Thursday ended its much-publicised annual session, approving a host of laws, including the new five-year plan to halt the slowdown of the country's economy, an enhanced defence budget and the controversial ethnic law-making Mandarin compulsory for all ethnic minorities.

The National People's Congress (NPC), often termed the rubber-stamp Parliament for its routine endorsement of laws approved by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), ended its annual session in less than two weeks. The NPC, along with the top advisory body - the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) - together with over 5,000 deputies, began their annual sessions in the first week of March.

The two session...