Hou Yanqi

Not long before, the 5th Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held successfully in Beijing. The Session adopted the Party Central Committee’s proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035. The session made an in-depth analysis on the domestic and external situations, raised a set of long-range objectives for China to basically achieve socialist modernisation by 2035, and also specified the guiding principles, major development targets and strategic measures for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).
One of the successful experiences of the CPC in the governance is to combine the different stages of the development with the long-term modernisation goal. We scientifically divide the development stage and promote economic and social development step by step. Since the first Five-Year Plan formulated in 1955, China has successfully implemented 13 Five-Year Plans. Under the guidance of those Plans, the Chinese people have made tremendous achievements in the economic and social development through great efforts for over 70 years. The economic strength, scientific and technological strength, and comprehensive national strength of China have risen to a new level. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to cross the 100 trillion RMB mark in 2020, and the per capita GDP has exceeded US$10,000.

Poverty alleviation
Over the last 40 years, 850 million rural residents were lifted out of poverty, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of global poverty alleviation. China has built the world’s largest social security system - the basic medical insurance that covers over 1.3 billion people, and the basic old-age insurance which has covered nearly 1 billion people.
The 14th Five-Year (2021-2025) Plan and Objectives Through the Year 2035 has important historical significance, which is reflected in three "new" characteristics: to enter a “new” development stage, to implement the “new” development concepts and to build a “new” development pattern. Within this year, China will eliminate absolute poverty, build a moderately prosperous society in all respects as scheduled, and achieve its first centenary goal. Next year, China will enter a new development stage by starting its new journey towards fully building a modern socialist country and marching towards the second centenary goal.
By 2035, China's economic and technological strength, and composite national strength will increase significantly. The modernisation of China's system and capacity for governance will be basically achieved. The well-rounded development of all people and social etiquette and civility will be significantly enhanced. There will be a fundamental improvement in the environment. The opening-up will reach a new stage. The per capita GDP will reach the level of moderately developed countries. People will lead a better life, and more notable and substantial progress will be achieved in promoting well-rounded human development and achieving common prosperity for everyone.
The new development concepts are to promote high-quality development as the theme, to make innovation the first driving force, coordination as an endogenous feature, green as a universal form, openness as the only way, and sharing as the fundamental goal. In order to implement the new development concepts in an all-round way, we will speed up the building of a technological power, advance coordinated regional development and new type of urbanisation, focus on green development, comprehensively deepen reform and advance opening-up to a higher level. With meeting the people’s growing expectation for a better life as our fundamental goal, we should continuously enhance the people's sense of gain, happiness and security, promote well-rounded personal development and all-round social progress.
The new development pattern is to accelerate the establishment of a "dual circulation" development pattern with the domestic big cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international dual circulation promoting each other. With a population of 1.4 billion, China has the world's largest and most promising consumer market with huge room for growth. Strengthening the mainstay of domestic big cycle is conducive to expanding the domestic market and enhancing the resilience of China's economic development.
Meanwhile, as President Xi Jinping pointed out, China’s new development pattern is by no means a closed domestic cycle, but a more open domestic and international dual cycle. The proposals reiterate once again that China will persist in opening to the outside world on larger scale, in wider areas and at deeper level and China will promote international cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results based on its advantages of the domestic large market.
We are pleased to witness that the Belt and Road Initiative after its development of seven years has become the international public good with most attention in the world and has entered a stage of quality building. It has played an increasingly important role in deepening economic integration among the cooperation partners. Recently, the 3rd China International Import Expo was held in schedule via on-line and off-line manner. More than 2,000 enterprises from over 60 countries and regions participated in the event, with total intended turnover of US$72.62 billion, an increase of 2.1 per cent compared to the last Expo.
China and Nepal are good neighbours, friends, and partners linked by mountains and rivers with friendship for generations and mutual assistance. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the practical cooperation in various fields between the two countries has brought tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries. Last year, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Nepal, during which the leaders of the two countries announced that China-Nepal relations were elevated to strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity.
Nowadays, the peoples of the two countries are in close cooperation to actively implement the results of the visit, jointly fight the COVID-19 pandemic and promote the resumption of work and production in an orderly manner. The 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-range Objectives through the year 2035 will provide more opportunities for China and Nepal to deepen the practical cooperation in various areas and the development of quality building of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Shared future
China will continue to uphold the banner of peace, development, and win-win cooperation, stick to the diplomatic principle of safeguarding world peace and promoting common development and promote the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. We would like to work together with all the countries, including Nepal, to share the opportunities for development and the dividends of cooperation and tackle risks and challenges in order to build a community with a shared future for mankind!

(The author is Chinese ambassador to Nepal)