President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, makes an important speech at the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in Beijing, capital of China. The session was held in Beijing from Oct 26 to 29, 2020. (JU PENG / XINHUA)

BEIJING - Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has said that China's economy has the hope and potential to maintain long-term stable development.

It is "completely possible" for China to meet the current standards for high-income countries by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period and to double the total economic volume or per capita income by 2035, he said.

Xi stressed that the medium- and long-term goals should pay more attention to the economic structure optimization so as to guide all parties to focus their work on improving the quality and efficiency of development

Xi made the remarks in an explanatory speech on the CPC Central Committee's proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 which was made public Tuesday.

There will be many unstable and uncertain factors in the external environment in the coming period as many risks and hidden dangers may impact the domestic economic development, said Xi, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has a far-reaching impact and the world economy may continue to suffer from a downturn.

He stressed that the medium- and long-term goals should pay more attention to the economic structure optimization so as to guide all parties to focus their work on improving the quality and efficiency of development.

Moderately prosperous society

It remains the Party's firm commitment to the people to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society of a higher level for the benefit of more than 1 billion people by the time when the CPC marks its 100th founding anniversary, Xi said.

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In 2020, China's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to exceed 100 trillion yuan, the people's living standards will significantly improve, all rural impoverished population will be lifted out of poverty by current standards, the development targets set in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan can be attained on schedule, and the goal to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects can be achieved on schedule, Xi said.

He said the CPC Central Committee will carry out systematic assessment and review of the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects in the first half of 2021 before officially announcing the achievement of moderate prosperity throughout the society.

Common prosperity

Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and the shared aspiration of all Chinese people, Xi noted.

Advancing poverty alleviation has been the top priority for the CPC since its 18th National Congress, and lifting all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty represents a significant step toward common prosperity, Xi said.

He also said that it is necessary to further emphasize promoting common prosperity for everyone as China embarks on a journey to fully build a modern socialist country.

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The proposals called for "more notable and substantial progress in promoting common prosperity for everyone," and "solid efforts to push forward common prosperity," Xi noted.

Ensuring both security, development

He also said that security is the prerequisite for development, while development is the guarantee for security.

In the immediate future and for some time to come, China will undergo a stage that is prone to all kinds of problems and risks, Xi said, adding that foreseeable and unforeseeable risks will also increase significantly.

Xi stressed the importance of strengthening the awareness of opportunities and risks while endeavoring to close loopholes, and taking the initiative in battles to effectively forestall and tackle a variety of risks and challenges.

New development pattern

According to Xi, establishing a new development pattern is a strategic choice to raise the level of China's economic development, as well as to forge new advantages in global economic cooperation and competition.

An industrial robot is displayed at the fourth China (Guangdong) International Internet Plus Expo in Foshan, Guangdong province. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Since China's reform and opening up, especially after its entry into the World Trade Organization, the country has formed a development pattern as "the world's factory," which has played an important role in rapidly increasing China's economic strength and improving people's livelihoods, Xi said.

In recent years, along with the changes in the global political and economic environment, the upsurge in deglobalization and the unilateralism and protectionism acts by certain country, the traditional global circulation has been notably weakened, Xi said, urging efforts to root China's development inside the country and rely more on the domestic market to achieve economic growth.

China is the largest consumer market with the most potential, which has great room for growth, Xi said, noting that, since the reform and opening up, China has managed to defuse risks many times by rooting its development inside the country.

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Xi called for sticking to expanding domestic demand as a strategic underpinning and fostering a sound circle in the operation of the national economy.

Xi also called for a supply system more compatible with the domestic demand.

The new development pattern will by no means be a closed domestic loop, Xi said, stressing that it is instead an open dual circulation involving both domestic and foreign markets.

Promoting a large-scale and smooth domestic economic circulation will help better attract global resources, meet domestic needs, elevate industrial and technological development and foster new advantages in global economic cooperation and competition, he added.