Full text: Report on China's economic, social development plan

II. Overall Requirements and Major Objectives for Economic and Social Development in 2011

When doing this year's economic and social development work, we must fully implement the guidelines adopted at the Party's Seventeenth National Congress and the third, fourth, and fifth sessions of the Seventeenth Central Committee; take Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents as our guide; and thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development. We need to correctly grasp the new changes in and new features of the domestic and international situations, and take scientific development as our theme and accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development as our main thrust. We will adopt a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy, and make our macro-control more targeted, flexible and effective. We will carry out economic restructuring more quickly, vigorously improve independent innovation, genuinely save energy and reduce emissions, constantly deepen reform and opening up, emphasize ensuring and improving the wellbeing of the people, consolidate and expand on our successes in responding to the global financial crisis, maintain steady and rapid economic development, and promote social harmony and stability.

In view of the above requirements and what is needed versus what is possible, and in conformity with the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, we have set the following major objectives for economic and social development in 2011.

-- Maintaining steady economic growth. China's GDP will grow by about 8%. In setting this target, we have mainly taken the following factors into account. On the one hand, it is necessary to maintain an appropriate pace of economic growth in order to expand employment, improve the people's wellbeing, and consolidate and expand on our achievements in responding to the global financial crisis. On the other hand, the projected growth rate around 8% is lower than the actual growth rate last year, and it was chosen mainly to guide all sides' attention and the focus of their work toward accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development, so we can coordinate the pace of economic growth with its structure, quality and efficiency; coordinate economic development with the population, resources and the environment; and genuinely transform in the course of developing and develop in the course of transforming. Furthermore, with so many variables in our external environment, more stringent resource and environmental constraints, and higher costs of factors of production, it will still require an enormous effort to achieve high quality and efficient growth at a rate of 8%. Moreover, this growth target is only a guide and indicator of the anticipated growth for the country as a whole. Local governments should set their growth rates scientifically in line with their actual conditions and based on necessity and possibility. They absolutely should not seek rapid growth at all costs or compete for the fastest rate, still less raise targets at each administrative level.

-- Optimizing the economic structure. We will increase spending on R&D as a percentage of GDP to 1.85%; make positive progress in fostering strategic emerging industries and accelerate development of the service sector; achieve new results in technological upgrading, elimination of backward production facilities, and SOE mergers and reorganizations; reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 3.5% compared to last year, reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions by about 3.5%, and cut the four major pollutant indexes -- chemical oxygen demand, total ammonia nitrogen and emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide -- each by 1.5%; further strengthen ecological and environmental improvement; and raise the urbanization level to 48.3%. The main consideration when proposing this composite target is that accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development is our main thrust now and for some time to come, and it must be incorporated into the entire process and every aspect of economic and social development. In order to take firm steps in the first year of implementing the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, we must steadfastly focus on strategic economic restructuring; further increase investment in R&D; strive to promote independent innovation; nurture and develop strategic emerging industries; promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries; intensify efforts to balance urban and rural development and development among different regions; actively yet prudently give impetus to urbanization; strengthen energy conservation, emissions reduction, and ecological and environmental protection; increase the contribution science and technology make to economic growth as well as its quality and efficiency; and make development more coordinated and sustainable.

-- Keeping overall price levels basically stable. The CPI will increase by about 4%. Currently, aggregate supply and demand in China are basically balanced and there is an ample supply of most products; in particular, we have abundant stocks of grain as a result of seven consecutive years of good harvests, and all this will help to keep overall price levels basically stable. Nevertheless, fast increases in consumer prices in the second half of last year will likely have a significant carry-over effect on prices in the first half of this year. At the same time, there are quite a few factors causing price increases, including massive increases in global liquidity; continued and significant imported inflationary pressure from price increases for major commodities in the international market; relatively large domestic money stock; and gradual increases in the cost of factors of production, such as energy, raw materials, land and labor. Also, reforms of prices for resource products and environmental protection charges are being actively yet prudently carried out, and all these factors are exerting upward pressure on prices to a certain degree. The decision to allow the CPI to rise by about 4% has been taken not only based on the aforementioned factors and people's ability to tolerate price increases, but also to leave space for the reform of prices.

-- Ensuring and improving the people's wellbeing. We will increase urban employment by more than 9 million and keep the urban registered unemployment rate no higher than 4.6%; strive to increase personal income in step with economic development and raise wages and salaries in step with growth in labor productivity, and increase both urban per capita disposable income and rural per capita net income by more than 8% in real terms; continue to improve the social security system and start construction on low-income housing and renovation of run-down areas with a total of 10 million units this year; and keep natural population growth under 6.5 per thousand. Ensuring and improving the people's wellbeing is an inevitable requirement of carrying out scientific development and promoting social harmony, and it is also the urgent necessity for constantly satisfying the people's new expectations for a better life, as well as the fundamental starting point and goal of accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development. We must always remember that developing the economy is inseparable from improving the people's wellbeing, and organically integrate accelerating the transformation of the pattern of economic development with ensuring and improving the people's wellbeing. We need to give higher priority to properly solving major problems that concern the immediate interests of the people such as employment, income distribution and social security; improve the institutional framework as well as systems and mechanisms; increase investment; strive for new successes; and ensure that the achievements of reform and development reach all the people.

-- Improving the balance of payments. We will promote the transformation and upgrading of export goods, accelerate the development of trade in services, vigorously expand imports, and increase total import and export volume by about 10%. We will maintain growth in the utilization of foreign capital, further optimize the way it is utilized, and steadily expand Chinese investment overseas. Although this year the global economic environment is still grim and complicated, protectionism in various guises is rearing its head, and competition in the international market is becoming increasingly fierce, so long as we make the most of our comparative advantages in the global economic division of labor, put equal emphasis on exports and imports as well as on attracting foreign capital and making outward investment, and accelerate the transformation of the patterns of our foreign trade and outward investment, we will be able to continue to maintain a steady increase in external demand and further improve the balance of payments.