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Jun Mai

Improving social welfare should be the main focus of the five-year plan discussed this week by senior government leaders in China, according to a commentary by the Communist Party’s official newspaper.
Creating jobs, raising people’s incomes and food safety were also priorities, the People’s Daily said.
The party on Thursday endorsed a guideline for the 13th five-year plan, a blueprint for the country’s socio-economic development from next year to 2020, as it wrapped up the fifth plenum of the 18th party congress.
Xi Jinping, the party's general secretary, delivered an instruction on the guideline.
READ MORE: Five issues China must address in its latest five-year plan
The commentary in the Daily said the welfare of the people should be prioritised and problems in employment, income, social welfare and food safety should be solved.
“Improving the people’s welfare and promoting the overall development of the people should be the starting point and end point of all developments,” the article quoted an earlier Politburo meeting as saying.
Efforts to improve people’s livelihood would be strengthened, despite the uncertainties of the country’s economic situation and resistance from some to reform, the commentary added.
Downward pressure had increased on the economy and growth of government revenue has slowed over the past four years, but indicators of people’s livelihood have nevertheless increased, the Communist Party mouthpiece said.
It cited pension and medical reforms carried out during the last five years and said Chinese people had earned more and their burdens had been lessened as welfare improved.
Government targets were also highlighted in another mainland news outlet.
“More than 70 million people below the poverty line in China will be lifted out of poverty in the next five years,” the online news service Thepaper.cn quoted Xi as saying in a speech earlier this month on tackling global poverty.
READ MORE: Sustaining growth while transforming the economy will be top priorities for China's 13th five-year plan
Chi Fulin, an adviser working on the five-year plan, told the Economic Daily that economic reform was a key priority.
“The next five-year plan needs to crack the hard bone of structural reform with more resolution,” Chi was quoted as saying.
The key was more support for the service sector, which now makes up 49 per cent of GDP output, Chi said, but it trails significantly behind developed countries. 
The education, medical and health sectors should also be opened up to private business, he said. 


Social welfare priority for China’s five-year plan, says Communist Party mouthpiece

China's leaders, including President Xi Jinping, have been discussing the nation's five-year plan this week. Photo: Reuters

Five issues China must address in its latest five-year plan

A cloth print featuring a portrait of Mao Zedong lies on the ground at a market in Beijing. In a globalising world shaped by powerful market forces, are national five-year plans typical of command economies still relevant? Photo: AFP

The sheer size of the rural-urban migration has created mind-boggling problems. A good five-year plan should come up with proper methods to deal with all the problems created by the rapid pace of urbanisation. Photo: AFP

A large service sector can create a lot of jobs. Photo: Reuters

The next step in making the renminbi an international currency is to get it included in the IMF's special drawing rights basket. Photo: Reuters

Time for China to give hard economic growth targets a miss in five-year plan: analysts

Premier Li Keqiang said China had never set in stone a specific target. Photo: Xinhua

Economic growth fell to 6.9 per cent in the third quarter. Photo: AFP

Out with the old: the 12th five-year plan's modest achievements explained

China is well behind in plans to build affordable homes.Photo: Xinhua

The moon shines over the IFC building in Beijing. Facing pressure to pep up a cooling economy, Chinese leaders are meeting to craft a new long-range blueprint to guide development through the end of this decade. Photo: AP

China’s five-year plan review to confirm Communist Party Central Committee expulsions 

Ling Jihua, once adviser to president Hu Jintao and a former vice-chairman of the National Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was expelled from the Communist Party in July and is to face charges on corruption. Photo: EPA

Su Shulin photographed in August 2009 when he was chairman of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. Photo: EPA

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