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China will focus on innovation, sustainability in 2017

Author  :  Zhang Junrong and Lu Hang     Source  :    Chinese Social Sciences Today     2017-03-21

Delegates and members of the Two Sessions applauded the Government Work Report for its emphasis on practical issues.

China’s primary development goal in 2017 is to grow the GDP by around 6.5 percent while striving for better results, according to the report.

Zhang Zhaoan, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the growth target is reasonable. China’s economic scale has been increased year on year. It has currently reached $11 trillion and can sustain relatively rapid growth.

Also, China has become deeply involved in the process of economic globalization. The emergence of a number of political and economic uncertainties in the global landscape has prompted leaders to consider the impact of external factors on the Chinese economy. Domestically, China is urgently restructuring its economy and upgrading production capacity as well as implementing innovation-driven development strategies, Zhang explained.

“It is tough to transform the economic structure while sustaining relatively rapid growth,” said Xiang Xiaomei, director of the Institute of Industrial Economy at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences. Raising employment and eliminating poverty pose a challenge in 2017, she said, adding that a moderately prosperous society can only be achieved by 2020 based on stable growth and sustainable development.

According to the report, China will continue to focus on supply-side structural reform while expanding general demand and increasing efficiency.

Xiang said consumption is upgrading as quality of life improves. This is more obvious in the developed coastal regions, where consumption is driving the restructuring of production. Having sufficient supply to meet consumption demand in the current and future stage is a key factor in the supply-side structural reform, she added.

The reform has showed preliminary results. It fits domestic conditions to generate new demand against the increasingly unstable global investment environment. Domestic demand includes investment and consumption, Zhang said.

Real economy forms the basis for China’s development. The urgent task is to accelerate transformation, according to the report.

Development of the real economy should occur in step with supply-side structural reform. Quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the economy can be boosted through innovation-intensive development strategies. In addition, the report stresses reduction of production costs, laying crucial foundation for stable and healthy real economy, Zhang added.

The report urges implementation of such incentive policies as stock options and dividends. The respect for intelligence and pursuit of fairness are destined to further unleash the creative capacity of research faculty, said Wang Shuguo, president of Xi’an Jiaotong University.

Efforts should be made to deal with issues that most people care about, which is a highlight of the report.

Zhang Xiaoshan, CASS Member, said the report has specific plans to support rural areas in three aspects: agricultural subsidies, infrastructure construction as well as social welfare. There are also funds for poverty alleviation.

In addition, the report emphasizes promoting the executive capabilities of governments. Zhou Wenzhang, former deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Governance, said improving executive efficiency to better serve the public is the foundation of various types of government work.

Editor: Ma Yuhong

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