Premier Li Keqiang delivers a government work report during the opening meeting.(Photo/Xinhua)
China's new five-year plan for development has been unveiled at a crucial stage of national economic progress. The plan's time period of 2016-20 will complete with the government timeline to transform the country into a "moderately prosperous society" by 2020. Launched on March 5 during the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, in Beijing, where hundreds of delegates from all over the country were present, the13th Five-Year Plan has set the target of over 6.5 percent growth. [Special Coverage]
One key target of the plan is to increase the share of the service sector from current 50.5 percent to 56 percent of GDP in 2020. The urban residency will be up to 60 percent of the population from 56.1 percent. To improve the fast-track movement of people, there will be 30,000 km of high-speed railways, linking 80 percent of big cities nationwide.
The international obligations like tackling pollution are also part of the new plan. The government has decided to cut carbon dioxide emission by 18 percent and demand of other major pollutants like sulphur dioxide and chemical oxygen will be slashed by 10-15 percent. The five-year development plan aims to create more than 50 million new urban jobs. It will be major stimulus to tackle poverty and increase prosperity.
Another important part of the plan is to increase the spending in the research and development sector to 2.5 percent of GDP in 2020. It will bring China closer to the developed economies, which are spending a lot on research and development. In fact, it is the key sector which spearheads creation of new ideas and development of technologies.
The decision to launch the new five year plan comes when the economy of China is facing considerable pressure. Already the annual growth target has come down and the 6.5 percent growth is lowest in three decades. But it will be sufficient to double the GDP and per capita income to 2020 as compared to 2010. By the time the five year plan is completed, it is expected that China's GDP will exceed 92.7 trillion yuan or $14.2 trillion from the current 67.7 trillion yuan, while per capita income to reach $12,000.
Innovations and sustainable growth are the key watchwords, which will herald the changes in China's economic growth and development agenda. But it will need some major reforms in the educational system. Unless universities and key institutions of higher learning are ready to take up the challenge of bringing newness, no system can rise to the top.
With the educational reform, entrepreneurship should be promoted. Small and medium size enterprises have a role to play despite global love for big industry. New ways to save energy and protect environment are also important in addition to the development of infrastructure and construction of sky-high buildings.
China also needs to take care of debt which is increasing with the economic growth. It may not be immediate worry but it can create ripples in the future if left unmanaged. It is said in the media reports that the ratio of debt to GDP is already around 250 percent.
Critics of Chinese model of development will also keenly watch the reforms in the state-owned enterprises. There are hundreds and thousands of such entities controlled by the central government and local authorities, which are also mainstay of the growth. But some of them are in the dire need of reforms to keep the pace with the fast economic growth and social development.
Premier Li Keqiang, while announcing the new plan, warned that "China will face more and tougher problems and challenges in its development this year" and said that people should be prepared for facing these challenges. "China has laid a solid material foundation, and its economy is hugely resilient and has enormous potential and ample room for growth," he said.
The Chinese economic miracle has been helped by the determination to find a recipe for every problem it came across. Hence, on good faith, it is expected that the country will meet the targets of the 13th Five Year Plan and also end it in 2020 by achieving the objective of a "low-high-income country."
The author Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn.
(Source: China.org.cn)
