Over three decades of reform and opening up have brought about remarkable development in China. The country has gained notable growth in comprehensive national strength and global influence. It is more closely interacting and connected with the world. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is a big country that is steadily moving towards modernisation. It has not only left its strong mark in the history of human progress but it is becoming an important factor that will shape the future of the region and beyond. The next decade will see an even more promising prospect for China’s development. China’s economy has entered into a stage of new normal. The fundamentals in its economy remain positive in the long run. The country is rolling out its 13th Five-Year Plan in March for 2016-2020, which highlights five key development concepts, namely; innovation, balanced growth, a green economy, opening-up, and inclusive development. This five-year plan will mark the beginning of China’s new journey of economic transition and upgrading. Structural reform will continue and the goal is to base growth on innovation, open up more space for growth through coordinated development and translate the ideas of green growth into concrete actions. China will improve the strategic layout of opening-up and bring moderate prosperity to everyone at home.

Currently, global economic recovery is faltering, and the international economic situation is becoming increasingly complicated. However, the overall performance of the Chinese economy is stable and moving towards a positive direction. The economy is operating within normal ranges. In the first half of this year, China’s economy grew by 6.7%-- equivalent to the double-digit growth experienced over five years ago. Meanwhile, the process of economic restructure and transformation mode of growth exceeded our expectations and features of the ‘new normal’ became more apparent. The13th Five-Year Plan offers five ‘concepts’ that map out China’s development in the next five years--innovation, balanced growth, the green economy, opening up and inclusive development. Upholding these concepts, we will press ahead with economic restructure, moderately expand overall demand, make structural reforms to enhance the supply-side, and shift from resource-intensive and investment-driven growth models to innovation-driven development.

My fourth point regarding optimism is that China has mapped out a new blueprint for development in next five years. This is known as the 13th Five Year Plan. 2016 is the opening year of the 13th Five Year Plan. It also marks the beginning of a crucial stage leading up to the building of what Chinese people call, “a moderately prosperous society”. The Plan rolls out major goals, tasks and measures for the economic and social development in the next five years. It marks the beginning of a new journey towards economic transition and upgrading. The highlights of the Plan are five development concepts. They are innovation, balanced growth, green economy, opening-up and inclusive development. · Innovation will become a new growth driver and will need an economic system and structure that is more innovation-friendly. · Balanced growth will strengthen the weak links and open up more spaces for growth. · Green economy prioritises environmental protection and the pursuit of a low carbon economy. This means more emphasis on energy conservation and emission reduction. · Opening-up means China will continue to improve its opening-up layout and upgrade its opening-up structure. · Inclusive development means development is always for the people, of the people and shared by the people. The 13th Five Year Plan and the five development concepts aim to address existing challenges, make up for weak links, empower the engine of growth and consolidate comparative strengths. The ideas and concepts will guide China’s economic development in the next five years and beyond. With the implementation of the Plan and related reform measures, China’s economy will continue to grow with steady progress.