Consul general explains 13th Five-Year Plan

China's Consul General in New York Zhang Qiyue spoke on the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) at an event held by the America China Public Affairs Institute on Wednesday.

The plan is a national strategy designed to guide the country's social, political and economic development through the second half of this decade.

The principles of the plan are innovation, coordinated growth, green development, opening-up and inclusiveness, ambassador Zhang told 200 guests who attended the event at Yale Club.

Innovation was at the top of the list. According to Zhang, the word not only means scientific and technological innovation, on which China has already spent $200 billion, but it also refers to innovation in different modes of business and entrepreneurship from the public.

She said that there are currently more than 2,500 business incubators across the nation, and China has recently set up a $6.5 billion fund to support startups.

Even the leisure city of Chengdu has turned into a hub of innovation. "In the first nine months of 2015, we saw an increase of 180,000 businesses in the city," said Zhang.

Coordinated growth and green development are also critical to a country facing large-scale urbanization and environment challenges.

Zhang told the audience that every year 16 million farmers move from the countryside to cities and towns, and China will keep building infrastructure, including roads, electricity and Internet to cover the whole country. Chinese cities and provinces are also forming sister relationships to share resources.

According to Zhang, the notion of "sustainability" is significantly present in the Five-Year Plan, and the leaders emphasize low-carbon growth. She said China will also stay strong in the renewable energy market.

Despite the recent economic slowdown and stock market turbulence, Zhang said that the Chinese will further open up, welcoming more foreign investment, and that the business environment will be more transparent.

China will also open more free-trade zones in Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian.

Though the large cities are important, Zhang emphasizes that China wants to have an inclusive growth. China still has 128,000 impoverished villages and 70 million people living under the property line, according to the most recent census.

The government has set the goal of rooting out poverty in 2020, she said.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com