Making Solid Progress in Promoting High-Quality Economic and Social Development

Building a high-standard socialist market economy and continuing to enhance the vitality of all business entities

We will honor and act on the commitments to both the public and non-public sectors, ensuring that they complement each other and develop in tandem. Guidance will be issued on refining the layout of the state-owned economy and adjusting its structure. This will help SOEs strengthen functions related to strategic security, industrial leadership, the national economy, public wellbeing, public services, and other areas. 

A law on private economy promotion will be adopted, and refinements will be made to the systems and mechanisms for facilitating the participation of private entities in major national strategies. The modern corporate system with distinctive Chinese features will be improved, and efforts will be made to promote the formation of a number of world-class enterprises.

We will do more to ensure smooth flows in the economy. We will provide guidance on building a unified national market, improve the implementation mechanism for competition policy, and fully enforce all policy measures on the regulation of local government practices for attracting investment. We eliminate local protectionism and market segmentation and carry out integrated pilot reforms on the market-based allocation of factors. 

The systems underpinning the market economy will be improved. This will see us bolstering the protection of property rights and intellectual property rights, updating the market access negative list, and working systematically to remove market access restrictions in the services sector. We will also improve the social credit system with Chinese features.

Improving the systems and mechanisms for promoting high-quality economic development and moving faster to develop a modern industrial system

We will develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions. We will move faster in planning for the industries of the future and establish a mechanism to ensure funding increases for these industries. We will initiate explorations in new arenas, such as quantum technology and life sciences, and launch an AI Plus initiative. We will also establish several zones to pioneer the development of tomorrow’s industries. 

We will work hard to develop and expand emerging industries. We will carry out national projects to create strategic emerging industry clusters, consolidate China’s competitive edge across the entire industrial chain for alternative energy vehicles, and foster high-growth gazelle and unicorn companies.

Transformation and upgrading work will be accelerated in traditional industries. We will implement major technological upgrades and smart projects in manufacturing, execute an action plan for digital manufacturing, and rapidly scale up Industrial Internet applications. We will also deepen integration between advanced manufacturing and modern services. 

We will improve the systems and mechanisms for modern infrastructure construction and promote the digitalization of traditional infrastructure. To boost China’s strength in strategic science and technology, we will push for breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields and promote integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation.

Improving the macroeconomic governance system and enhancing the implementation of macroeconomic policies 

We will improve the systems for national strategic planning and national economic and social development planning, to facilitate the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) and lay solid foundations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030). Macro-policy coordination will be strengthened. We will enhance assessments to evaluate macro-policy consistency and ensure that fiscal, monetary, industrial, pricing, and employment policies work together effectively. 

We will enhance our system for managing expectations, communicate economic conditions and policies, and address market concerns and hot social topics. We will put ultra-long-term special government bonds to the best use possible by quickly implementing major national strategic projects and security capacity-building initiatives in key areas. We will ensure that project development is well aligned with the development of policies, planning, and mechanisms and coordinate the development of hard and soft infrastructure. We will push forward large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in programs for durable consumer goods, while enhancing oversight and guidance over project implementation and the use of funds.

Building a complete domestic demand system and rolling out a range of measures to drive consumption and investment 

With consumption as a top priority, we will establish long-term mechanisms to drive consumer spending. We will nurture new consumer trends and scenarios, stimulate sales of goods such as automobiles and home appliances, and upgrade and expand services such as education, elderly care, childcare, and household services. We will actively promote the debut economy, boost consumption of trending China-chic products, and support the high-quality development of culture, sports, and tourism. 

Proactive efforts will be made to expand effective investment. To coordinate the effective use of all types of government investment, we will set up long-term mechanisms to support major public-benefit projects that are of fundamental importance and long-term value and accelerate the pace at which local government special-purpose bonds are issued and put to use. We will continue to expand our reserve of projects. We will move swiftly to identify a batch of key initiatives and major projects that are systemic, foundational, and strategic in nature and expedite preliminary preparations for such projects. A new public-private funding mechanism will be implemented, and we will continue to promote project investment opportunities to private investors. We will do a better job of attracting private capital to major infrastructure projects, particularly in sectors such as nuclear power and railways.

Boosting green and low-carbon development mechanisms and accelerating the green transition in all areas of economic and social development 

We will advance a coordinated transition to make industries greener and more digital and build out the clean energy and low-carbon sectors. While promoting cleaner and more efficient use of fossil fuels, we will also redouble efforts to develop renewable energy. We will make a major push to promote green construction practices and eco-friendly architecture in both urban and rural areas. 

Pushing ahead with the comprehensive conservation strategy, we will speed up efforts to develop a system for recycling waste and used materials. The supply of green products will be boosted, eco-friendly distribution channels will be improved, and active steps will be taken to expand green consumer spending. 

We will implement fiscal, taxation, financial, investment, and pricing policies and standards that support green and low-carbon development. We will actively yet prudently progress toward peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, accelerating the pace of retrofitting to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in key areas and improving the statistics and accounting system for carbon emissions.

Accelerating the establishment of a new open economic system and promoting high-standard opening up 

We will work to steadily expand institutional opening up by promoting alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules and harmonizing rules, regulations, management, and standards with international ones. We will foster new growth drivers for foreign trade, expanding trade in intermediate products, services, digital commerce, and eco-friendly products, as well as cross-border e-commerce exports. 

We will further reform the management for inward and outward investment. All market access restrictions for foreign investment will be removed in the manufacturing sector, and further steps will be taken to foster a first-rate business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized. 

The layout for regional opening up will be optimized. We will implement the strategy for upgrading pilot free trade zones and accelerate the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Our efforts will see us moving faster toward all-around opening up through links running eastward and westward, across land, and over sea. To advance the Belt and Road Initiative, we will focus on implementing the eight steps for supporting its high-quality development and carry out both major signature projects and “small but effective” public wellbeing projects.

Strengthening the safeguards for economic security and preventing and defusing risks in key areas 

We will reinforce the foundations of food security in all respects and accelerate progress in the new drive to increase China’s grain production capacity by 50 million tons. We will continue to enhance coordination on the production, procurement, storage, processing, and sale of grain. The planning and development of a new type of energy system will be accelerated. We will boost our capacity to meet peak energy demands and strengthen the national reserves system. 

We will improve the development systems and mechanisms for key industrial chains and refine the coordination frameworks for the systematic and progressive relocation of industries within China. We will forge more resilient and secure industrial and supply chains. A framework for basic data systems will be put in place with a view to enhancing data security governance.

Promoting integrated urban-rural development and coordinated regional development 

Striving for coordinated progress in new industrialization, new urbanization, and all-around rural revitalization, we will advance infrastructure integration and promote equitable access to basic public services. To build on our success in poverty alleviation, we will strengthen the investment mechanisms for rural revitalization. We will also refine the mechanisms for developing, certifying, managing, and protecting high-standard cropland and elevate the development of rural industry. We will push ahead with efforts to upgrade rural living environments. 

Plans will be drawn up to implement four major initiatives, which will focus respectively on a new round of efforts to grant permanent urban residency to eligible people moving from rural areas, urbanization in areas with the largest potential for absorbing new populations, the development of modern metropolitan areas, and urban renewal schemes with a focus on boosting safety and resilience. We will develop a regional economic layout and territorial space system characterized by complementarity between regions and territorial spaces and facilitate integrated implementation of the coordinated regional development strategy and the major strategies of different regions. 

We will improve the institutional and policy frameworks for opening up a new vista in the large-scale development of the western region, securing new breakthroughs in the full revitalization of northeastern China, accelerating the rise of the central region, and encouraging the eastern region to modernize more quickly. 

Steps will be taken to enable regions like the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to better play their roles as engines of high-quality development and to improve the mechanisms for developing the Yangtze Economic Belt and ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin. We will move forward with the high-standard and high-quality development of the Xiong’an New Area.

Advancing the reform and development of social programs to safeguard and improve people’s wellbeing

Reform of the income distribution system will be advanced with the aim of increasing the incomes of residents through multiple channels. We will refine the public employment services system with an eye toward promoting employment for key groups such as college graduates, veterans, and migrant workers. The social security, medical, and healthcare systems will be further reformed, and a sound social security system will be put in place to serve people in flexible employment, rural migrant workers, and those in new forms of employment. 

We will reform public services for both elderly care and childcare. We will refine supporting policies and incentives for boosting the birthrate and make a major push to develop public-benefit childcare services. We will also optimize the provision of basic eldercare and foster the growth of the silver economy. We will step up our prevention and response efforts for extreme weather and natural disasters and ensure that disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction work are carried out effectively.

Editor: Yi Xiaowei