Nation outlines goals for 13th Five-Year Plan

A bridge over the Yangtze River under construction in Wuhan, Hubei province. It will be the eighth Yangtze River bridge in the city and is evidence of ongoing infrastructure development. The country is making preparations for drafting the next five-year economic development plan (2016-20), which may put emphasis on boosting domestic demand.CHEN ZUO / FOR CHINA DAILY

CPC Political Bureau outlines its goals for 13th Five-Year Plan

China will continue its focus on economic development and maintain the "medium-high growth rate" of its economy, China's top leaders said at a meeting on Monday.

The country is aiming for a development pattern of "higher quality, efficiency, equality and sustainability", said a statement issued after the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

High on the agenda is the discussion of the 13th Five-Year Plan of National Development (2016-20).

"The five years from 2016 are a critical stage for building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. The 13th Five-Year Development Plan will focus on realizing this goal," the statement said.

As the last year of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) nears its final five months, the central government is devising a development policy for the 13th plan, the first under President Xi Jinping's leadership.

The Political Bureau also announced that the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee will hold its fifth plenary session in Beijing in October.

"China is entering a new normal of economic development and facing not only great strategic opportunities but complicated and tough challenges," the statement said.

"New normal" suggests slower but more-sustainable growth. Last week the country posted a second quarter GDP figure of 7 percent, the same as the first quarter.

The country will carry on the transformation of government functions, enhance the rule of law and deepen opening-up in all areas, said the statement.

The CPC will strictly discipline itself and upgrade its capacity to govern, it added.

Liu Jipeng, director of the Capital Research Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, said it's strategically important for leaders to place greater emphasis on the economy after their decisive victory in the nationwide anti-corruption crackdown.

He also said the country's full-year target for economic growth is within reach thanks to new liquidity injections in infrastructure projects and initiatives for encouraging entrepreneurship and Innovation.

A number of economic indicators, including electricity output, consumption and export growth, have shown improvement in June, indicating the economy stabilizing, economists said.

A report from Goldman Sachs said, "The period of most aggressive policy easing is likely behind us, with some evidence of better growth in the past two months, but support will remain because strong sequential growth is needed the remainder of the year to come close to the official full-year growth target, and the government is likely concerned about the potential downside risks to growth from the equity market correction."