Development blueprint to map goals

China's efforts to devise its development blueprint between 2021 and 2025 are in full swing, as members of the standing committee of the country's top political advisory body gathered in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss the plan.

"We should widely solicit opinions from all sides and formulate the goals and key tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) in a scientific way," State Councilor Wang Yong said at the opening of a meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The plan should focus on core areas and weak links to overcome difficulties in the country's development, Wang said.

The 14th Five-Year Plan is of great importance as it marks the first five years for China to embark on the journey toward building a modern socialist country, after reaching the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by this year, Wang said.

During the meeting, members of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee will discuss topics like furthering high-quality economic growth, rural revitalization, environmental protection, innovation-driven development, and improvement of the social security system.

In an instruction published earlier this month, President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of pooling wisdom from the public in devising the 14th Five-Year Plan.

The country started to invite public opinion about the drafting of the plan via the internet from Aug 16. Some analysts expect the outline of the plan to come out in October, which will map out China's economic and social development goals and strategies for the next five years.

Liu Chunsheng, an associate professor of international trade with the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, said the plan is expected to feature China's response strategies against the profound changes in the international situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the face of rising protectionism and uncertainties in external markets, China is expected to uphold sharpening its innovation capacity and modernizing its industrial system as part of the priorities in the plan to power future growth, Liu said.

"Achieving breakthroughs in core technologies and upgrading the supply system will go a long way toward unleashing the potential in domestic consumption," Liu said.