Premier Wen Jiabao has said China will step up efforts to facilitate the orderly flow of redundant rural labors into towns for new jobs in the coming five years.

 

Wen made the remarks in his explanation of the Proposal on the Eleventh Five-year Program at the Fifth Session of the 16th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee a week ago, but his explanation wasn't released to the public until Wednesday.

 

According to Wen, China will speed up economic development in small towns to create more job opportunities for migrant workers, thus increasing their income.

 

This is only part of China's program for the coming five years to ease rural poverty and narrow the growing gap between rural and urban areas.

 

Wen also promised that China will push forward the reform of the rural tax system, to invest more in education and medical services in the countryside and experiment with new land acquisition methods.

 

Promoting unisonous regional development

 

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged the whole nation to promote a unisonous regional development in the country in the next five years.

 

China will implement a comprehensive policy to boost the development of the western region, revitalize the traditional industrial bases in the northeastern provinces and promote the rise of central provinces. Eastern and western provinces and regions should make concerted efforts to promote a mutual development, Wen said.

 

Wen said this in an explanation of the Proposal on the Eleventh Five-year Program on National Economy and Social Development which was adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th Communist Party of China Central Committee a week ago.

 

The interactive mechanism of regional coordination should be improved, including mechanisms of market, cooperation, interaction and support, according to the proposal of the 11th five-year program. The central government will continue to give support to the central and western regions in economic policies, capital investment and industrial growth, Wen said.

 

The social functions of different regions should be defined in terms of their population, resources, environment and potential, Wen said.

 

Wen said that a healthy development of urbanization should be stepped up, giving full play to the city groups in the process of urbanization. Attention should be paid to proper sequence, economical use of land and reasonable overall arrangement, he said.

 

Balancing domestic, foreign demand

 

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged the nation to properly handle the relationship between domestic and overseas demand in social and economic development in the next five years.

 

"We must base ourselves upon expanding domestic demand, a long-term strategic policy that we must stick to," Wen said in an explanation about the Proposal on the Eleventh Five-year Program at the Fifth Session of the 16th CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee a week ago.

 

He said that China should further expand not only investment demand but also consumption demand to boost the country's economic growth.

 

Meanwhile, he said China also needs to further open up the international market and expand overseas demand.

 

The premier also emphasized four other major relationships that need to be handled with great attention in social and economic development in the coming five years, including relationship between market mechanism and macro regulation, between central government and localities, between social development and economic development, and between reform, development and stability.

 

Wen said that China must act in line with rules of a market economy, but at the same time, macro regulation must be strengthened and improved to ensure a stable and healthy economic development.

 

For the relationships between the central government and localities, Wen said the central government must take into consideration the differences and interests of different regions when stipulating a policy. Meanwhile, localities must obey the central leadership and take the interests of the whole country into account.

 

On social development and economic development, Wen said China must unswervingly take economic construction as the core task while social development is a necessity and important guarantee for economic development.

 

Building harmonious society

 

Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday called for stepping up national efforts to build a harmonious society, saying employment, social security, poverty reduction, education, medical care, environmental protection and safety will be given priority.

 

Wen made the appeal in his explanation about the Proposal on the Eleventh Five-year Program at the Fifth Session of the 16th CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee last week.

 

He said that employment will remain a tough issue for a long period of time to come, so China has to carry out pro-active employment policies and try every means to create job opportunities.

 

On social security, the premier called for further making efforts to improve the insurance system of pension, basic medical care, unemployment, industrial injuries and birth, to earnestly resolve the social security issue for migrant farmer workers in cities, and to set up a security system of minimum living standards for rural areas.

 

Wen meanwhile urged efforts to readjust the income distribution in a proper way to narrow the income gap among different regions and social groups and to achieve social equality.

 

Other important tasks for building a harmonious society in the coming five years include greatly developing education and lifting the educational level of the nationals, enriching the public's spiritual and cultural life, improving medical services across the country, and safeguarding the life and property of the people, Wen said.

 

According to Wen, the State Council will make the draft of the Eleventh Five-year Program based on the proposal. The draft will be reviewed at the National People's Congress session next March.

 

Speeding up development of science and education

 

China will beef up its muscle in independent innovation and speed up the development of science and technology and education in the next five years, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said.

 

Wen made the remarks when explaining about the Proposal on the Eleventh Five-year Program on National Economy and Social Development, which was adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the16th Communist Party of China Central Committee a week ago.

 

Mankind is now experiencing a global revolution in science and technology, which will bring about both unprecedented opportunities and challenges for all nations, Wen said. Strengthening innovation ability will sharpen a nation's competitive edge in the world, he added.

 

To enhance its independent innovation ability, China must speedup the establishment of a technological innovation system, improve the market environment, implement a supporting policy in finance and government purchase, make use of global scientific resources, and enhance the protection of intellectual property rights, he said.

 

It is imperative to carry out thoroughly the strategies for revitalizing the country relying on science and technology and education and the strategies for building up the country relying on talents, in order to strengthen China's independent innovation ability, he explained.

 

Therefore, it is of great importance to give the priority to the development of education to foster a great number of top-quality people, he added.

 

"Active, prudent" goal to double per capita GDP by 2010

 

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the goal of doubling China's 2000 per capita gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010 is "active and prudent".

 

The goal is based on an overall consideration of economic performance from 2001 to 2005 and conditions for development in the coming five years, he said in his explanation, released Wednesday, of the Communist Party of China's proposal for the nation's 2006-2010 blueprint for economic and social development.

 

Wen also described the goal of reducing energy cost for per unit GDP by 20 percent in the coming five years as "achievable".

 

This reflects the requirement for the building of an energy-saving and environmental friendly society and sustainable development, he said.

 

Wen acknowledged that in recent years, the speed of energy consumption was tangibly faster than economic growth, showing that there is still much potential for saving energy and raising the efficiency of energy use.

 

Asia's second biggest economy expanded at a stunning 9.5 percent in the first six months of the year and is widely expected to see only a slight slowdown in 2006.

 

But the Chinese economy, Wen warned, excessively rides on increased investment and material input. The inefficient growth pattern, sparking increasingly acute contradictions between resources and the environment, "can no longer continue," the premier said.

 

Wen highlighted the "scientific concept of development," a term frequently used by top Chinese leaders, indicating the shift in the government's development philosophy from growth-centered to people-centered.

 

The proposal of the CPC Central Committee is based on the "scientific concept of development" that will also be the guide in the whole process of China's reform and open-up drive, he said.

 

He also stressed the need to boost coordinated development of rural and urban areas, step up industrial restructuring, change the mode of economic growth, and continue to improve the people's living standards.

 

(www.gov.cn October 20, 2005)