Zhou xiaojingFormer Director of the Institute of Asian-African Development of the State Council Development Research Center and Senior Research Fellow of Chongyang Financial Research Institute of Renmin University of China.
This year is a crucial year for the 13th Five-Year Plan, and it is also a crucial year for China’s economy to set sail again after the 19th National Congress. It is at such an important historical node that Premier Li Keqiang devoted one third of his report on government work to systematically expound and comprehensively summarize the brilliant achievements made in economic work in the past five years. In his government work report, Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that the five years since the first session of the 12th National People’s Congress have been extremely extraordinary in China’s development process. In the face of extremely complicated domestic and international situations, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core unites and leads the people of all ethnic groups across the country to forge ahead, make overall plans to promote the "five in one" overall layout, coordinate and promote the "four comprehensive" strategic layout, and comprehensively open up a new situation in reform, opening up and socialist modernization. Historical achievements and changes have taken place in economic and social development. Premier Li Keqiang also clearly pointed out that the brilliant achievements in the past five years are the result of the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core, the scientific guidance of the Supreme Leader’s Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought in the new era, and the United struggle of the whole party, the whole army and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country.
When reviewing how we have made brilliant achievements in the past five years, Premier Li Keqiang comprehensively summed up the work experience in the past five years with nine persistences, and at the same time comprehensively demonstrated the practice and formation process of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s economic thought in the new era of the Supreme Leader.
First, adhere to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability, focus on innovation and improving macro-control, and keep economic operation within a reasonable range to achieve stability and improvement. This is the only correct guiding ideology to vigorously promote China’s economic development in the face of the difficult and complicated international and domestic economic situation in the past five years. Only by persisting in striving for progress in stability can we continue to promote the economic development of China and achieve brilliant achievements in the past five years; Only by persisting in striving for progress in stability can we properly cope with various potential economic risks at home and abroad and avoid major systemic risks. In Premier Li Keqiang’s government work report, there are two paragraphs that fully prove the great achievements made by adhering to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability. First, through hard work, we have withstood the downward pressure of the economy, avoided a "hard landing", maintained medium-and high-speed economic growth, promoted structural optimization, and continuously consolidated and developed the economy with good fundamentals for a long time. The other paragraph is to properly deal with abnormal fluctuations in financial markets such as "money shortage", standardize the order of financial markets, prevent and resolve risks in key areas, keep the bottom line of no systemic risks, and safeguard national economic and financial security. Fundamentally speaking, striving for progress in stability is not only the only correct guiding ideology in the face of difficult and complicated international and domestic situations in the past five years, but also the only correct guiding ideology for a long time to come.
Second, adhere to the supply-side structural reform as the main line, focus on cultivating and expanding new kinetic energy, and accelerate the optimization and upgrading of the economic structure. Facing the complicated international economic environment and the historical key node of China’s economic transformation and upgrading, it is the only correct choice to continue to promote the economic development of China. All the achievements made by China in the past 40 years should be attributed to our consistent adherence to reform and opening up. Without reform, China will not become the second largest economy in the world in such a short time, and without further reform, China will not be able to achieve two grand strategic goals of one hundred years. Rely on reform to solve the problems of economic development and structural imbalance, vigorously develop emerging industries, transform and upgrade traditional industries, and improve the quality and efficiency of the supply system. The key to deepening the reform is to find the focus and grasp the basic direction of the reform. This focus and basic direction is the supply-side structural reform. The supply-side structural reform and the general tone of striving for progress in stability are the two cores of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s economic thought in the new era of the Supreme Leader, and the concrete embodiment of the principle of seeking truth from facts advocated by our party in Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s economic thought in the new era of the Supreme Leader.
Third, adhere to innovation to lead development, focus on stimulating social creativity, and significantly improve the overall innovation ability and efficiency. Fourth, persist in comprehensively deepening reforms, strive to get rid of the shortcomings of the system and mechanism, and continuously enhance the driving force for development. Fifth, adhere to the basic national policy of opening to the outside world, strive to achieve win-win cooperation, and significantly improve the level of open economy. Sixth, adhere to the strategy of regional coordinated development and new urbanization, strive to promote balanced development, and accelerate the growth of new growth poles. These four persistences are actually the general tone of steady progress and the four pillars of supply-side structural reform. It is through these four positive efforts that we can achieve steady progress and implement the supply-side structural reform.
Seventh, adhere to the people-centered development thinking, focus on safeguarding and improving people’s livelihood, and the people’s sense of gain has been continuously enhanced. Eighth, adhere to the harmonious development between man and nature, focus on controlling environmental pollution, and achieve remarkable results in the construction of ecological civilization. Ninth, adhere to the full implementation of government functions in accordance with the law, focus on strengthening and innovating social governance, and maintain social harmony and stability. These three persistences are the core and foothold of the Supreme Leader’s Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought in the new era. This is all for the people, always putting the people at the top of all work, and resolutely implementing the people-centered development ideas and development concepts. Only by doing everything for the people and resolutely implementing the people-centered development concept can we avoid developing for the sake of development, make development benefit the broadest masses of the people, and avoid the so-called growth at the expense of future generations.
Summing up the past is to better guide the future. It is precisely after profoundly expounding the nine persistences that Premier Li Keqiang put forward the expected goals and tasks of economic development in 2018 in his government work report, and clearly pointed out that this year is the first year to fully implement the spirit of the 19th Party Congress, the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, and a crucial year to build a well-off society in an all-round way and implement the 13 th Five-Year Plan. To do a good job in this year’s work, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core, guided by Marxism–Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, Theory of Three Represents, Scientific Outlook on Development and Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era, we must uphold and strengthen the overall leadership of the Party, adhere to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability, adhere to the new development concept, and adhere to the supply-side structural reform as the main line. Make overall plans to promote steady growth, promote reform, adjust the structure, benefit people’s livelihood and prevent risks, vigorously promote reform and opening up, innovate and improve macro-control, promote quality change, efficiency change and power change, especially make solid progress in fighting the tough battles of preventing and resolving major risks, accurately lifting poverty and preventing pollution, guide and stabilize expectations, strengthen and improve people’s livelihood, and promote sustained and healthy economic and social development. (Editor Jiang Xinyu)
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