Economic development top priority for key Party meeting in October
China will discuss its new national five-year plan during the fifth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in October which experts said will focus on economic development under the current slowdown.
China announced the fifth plenary session in a statement on Monday after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Xinhua reported. The plenary will be chaired by President Xi Jinping, and its main agenda is to formulate the 13th five-year plan of national development (2016-20), according to the announcement.
The five years from 2016 will be a critical phase for building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and the plan will focus on realizing this goal, said the statement.
Economic observers believe the key targets of the new five-year plan need to be aligned with the new normal of the economy, as China is transitioning from high-speed growth to a medium-to-high speed one.
"The fundamental difference (in the conditions) between the 12th five-year plan and the 13th one is China's new normal economy which will lead to a shift in focus to high quality and efficiency in the 13th five-year plan," said Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Information Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
The 13th five-year plan period will be a key phase to realize the two important goals set by the 18th Party Congress, Xu added. The congress in 2012 identified two important goals: China's GDP and per capita income will double by 2020 on the base of 2010, and China will become a modernized socialist country that is rich, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by 2050.
It is also the first phase in China's drive to become a strong manufacturing power by 2025, an idea put forth by Premier Li Keqiang this year, said Zhang Yansheng, secretary-general of the Academic Committee at the National Development and Reform Commission.
Four comprehensives - a moderately prosperous society, reform, rule of law and Party discipline - will be the main guideline for mapping out the 13th five-year plan, Zhang said. The notion, first mentioned by Xi, includes tasks suggested at the CPC meetings over the last two years.
The 13th five-year plan should focus on restructuring China's economy and continuing regional development guided by three major strategies, including the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, the integration of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Yangtze River Economic Zone, Xu said.
China will improve macro-control of the economy, maintain a medium to high growth rate and move toward medium to high development, carry on the transformation of government functions, enhance the rule of law and deepen the opening-up in all dimensions, the statement said.
However, China faces challenges in its momentum of sustainable development due to aging of population and limited resources, and it should rely on green technology and innovation to tackle it, Xu said.
China's GDP growth decelerated to 7 percent in the first half of 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Five-year plans have been drawn up since 1953 to map strategies for overall economic and social development, setting growth targets and defining development policies.
