Xi chairs CPC leadership meeting to discuss draft 15th Five-Year Plan, govt work report

BEIJING - Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to discuss a draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development and a draft government work report to be submitted by the State Council to the upcoming annual session of the national legislature for review.

It was noted at the meeting that the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) has marked a momentous and extraordinary period in China's development.

The CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core has united the entire Party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups and led them in withstanding the severe shocks from a once-in-a-century Covid-19 pandemic, responding effectively to many major risks and challenges, and securing significant new achievements in the cause of the Party and the country, according to the meeting.

The meeting noted that the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) will be critical as China works to reinforce the foundations and pushes ahead on all fronts toward basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035.

Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee, the scientific formulation and effective implementation of the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan will be of great significance in consolidating and building on strengths, removing development bottlenecks, and shoring up areas of weakness, the meeting said.

Looking ahead to China's economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the meeting underscored the need to pursue economic development as the central task, with reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force and full and rigorous Party self-governance as the fundamental underpinning for all efforts.

It also emphasized promoting higher-quality economic growth while achieving an appropriate increase in economic output, and making solid headway in promoting well-rounded personal development and common prosperity for all.

The meeting noted that more proactive and effective macroeconomic policies should be adopted, and efforts should be made to steadily expand domestic demand and optimize supply.

The meeting stressed the need to develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions and focus on keeping employment, businesses, markets and expectations stable. It urged efforts to effectively upgrade the quality and appropriately expand the quantity of the economy, and achieve a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Efforts should be made to continue implementing a more proactive fiscal policy and an appropriately accommodative monetary policy, foster and strengthen new growth drivers, and accelerate progress toward greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, according to the meeting.

It also called for continuing to deepen reform in key areas and further expanding high-standard opening up, as well as accelerating the comprehensive green transition.

The meeting stressed the need to strengthen self-improvement of the government and firmly establish and practice a correct view on governance performance.