Sustaining growth while transforming the economy will be top priorities for China's 13th five-year plan
Beijing's development blueprint will aim to keep momentum while transforming the economy
The Communist Party elite convened in Beijing on Monday to craft a road map for China's economic and social development over the next five years, as the country attempts to restructure its economy and escape the middle-income trap.
Economic growth, institutional reforms, the environment and poverty alleviation were four of 10 areas that would be on the agenda, according to the party newspaper .
Targets in these areas were outlined by President Xi Jinping when he met party leaders from seven eastern provinces in May to discuss the country's 13th five-year plan, a blueprint for 2016-2020. That meeting took place before mainland stock markets plunged and quarterly GDP growth dipped below 7 per cent for the first time since 2009 amid the global financial crisis.
Shifting the focus from labour-intensive manufacturing to services will be of great importance to the national economy
Party leaders are reviewing the draft at the Jingxi Hotel in western Beijing at the party's closed-door fifth plenum, which continues until Thursday.
Their top focus would be maintaining economic growth, said.
After more than two decades of rapid expansion, the mainland economy has entered a stage of slower growth which Xi has called the "new normal".
While eager to sustain growth, the government has vowed to transform the economy into one driven not only by investment and exports, but consumption too.
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It is also looking to move away from a reliance on manufacturing, and to elevate the role of agriculture and services.
"Shifting the focus from labour-intensive manufacturing to services will be of great importance to the national economy," said Liu Xuezhi, a Bank of Communications analyst.
"It's obvious that Chinese manufacturers are losing their competitive edge due to higher labour and land costs, and it is the services sector that could help those workers who lose jobs at manufacturing plants."
Innovation in fields such as technology, industry, design and business management has also been touted by the government as a new driver for growth.
Modernising agriculture, protecting the environment and relieving poverty are also on the agenda.
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Professor Zhao Xijun, at Renmin University, said the plan had been drafted from a long-term perspective that would take previous five-year plans into consideration. It would not be based solely on events in the past year.
"The timing of the 13th five-year plan is crucial, because by 2020, the nation is supposed to have met its first centenary goal, marking the 100th anniversary of the party's founding [in 1921], to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society," Zhao said.
"The [plan] must keep that goal in mind. This is why poverty alleviation was singled out … a comprehensive moderately prosperous society means there are no poor areas."
