【Editor’s note: From May 31 to June 3, Mr. Ji Bingxuan, Vice-Chairman of NPC Standing Committee and Vice-President of CAFIU visited Canada, leading a CAFIU delegation. During the visit, he attended a seminar themed “China’s Economic and Social Development” jointly hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Canada and the Canadian International Council, and delivered a keynote speech. The following is the full text of the speech.】

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon!

 

It is a great pleasure for me to use this opportunity to brief you on some of China’s latest developments. I will mainly talk about three things – first, the current situation of China’s economy; second, the 13th Five-Year Plan of China; and third, new opportunities brought about by China’s economic development.

 

On China’s economic development

 

China’s GDP in 2015 is 67.7 trillion yuan, or more than 10 trillion USD, growing by 6.9% and fulfilling our growth target. In absolute terms, the GDP increased by 4.08 trillion yuan, or about 650 billion USD, which is equivalent to the GDP of a middling country. China contributed, in 2015, more than 25% of the global growth, and therefore serves as a main engine of the world economy. On the employment side, 13.12 million new jobs were created in the urban areas over the course of 2015, including those for the millions of college graduates. Structural adjustments are underway, with solid progress in the transition from the manufacturing sector to the service sector, which accounted for 50.5% of the GDP in 2015, for the first time surpassing 50%. High-tech industries are growing significantly faster than traditional ones. Consumption demands for information, culture, health and tourism-related products are very strong. Industries of energy conservation, environmental protection and green economy are enjoying a good momentum, and creating new growth engines. At present, China’s economy is generally stable in its development, and growing at a reasonable rate. Our economy has a solid foundation, strong market demands, higher quality production factors, stable employment, and significant progress in building up new driving forces and developing new economy.

 

Of course, the Chinese economy is growing more slowly than it used to, and still facing substantial downward pressure. This is partly due to the weak recovery of the world economy, partly the result of our own adjustments, and partly the influence of structural deficiencies of our economy accumulated over the years. However, we remain optimistic and confident over the prospect of the Chinese economy. This is because China's economic fundamentals remain favorable for long-term growth, its economy remains resilient with strong potential and ample room for growth, the foundation and conditions for supporting sustained growth remain intact, and the momentum for economic structural adjustment has not slackened. China’s market demand is huge, and the Chinese economy is still in a stage of strong growth. The Chinese Government will adopt comprehensive policies, so as to simultaneously expand aggregate demand and step up structural reforms, especially supply-side reforms, to quickly meet the newly emerging demand. China is implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, and encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation. We are committed to motivating the enthusiasm and creativity of hundreds of millions of people, stimulating market vitality and social creativity, and fostering new growth drivers. At the same time, China will continue its proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, further promote marketization reforms and the rule of law in the financial sector, and actively foster an open and transparent capital market with long-term, steady, and healthy development.

 

On China’s 13th Five-Year Plan

 

In March this year, the National Congress of China reviewed and approved the 13th Five-Year Plan of National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China, which outlines the main tasks and objectives of China’s development in the next five years. To summarize the tasks and objectives in one sentence, China is going to complete the building of a moderately well-off society in all aspects. Being “moderate well-off,” or Xiaokang in Chinese, means enjoying a happy, peaceful and harmonious life. To translate “completing the building of a moderately well-off society in all aspects” into numbers and concepts, we can say the following:

 

Medium-high speed of economic growth is to be maintained. While making its development more balanced, inclusive, and sustainable, China aims at doubling the 2010 GDP and per capita income by 2020, achieving balanced and coordinated economic indices, improving the development structure, upgrading industries to the medium to high end, accelerating the development of advanced manufacturing, fostering new industries and new business models, further expanding the proportion of the service sector in the national economy, and significantly increasing the contribution of consumption to the economic growth. The urbanization rate will increase faster, and agricultural modernization will achieve significant progress.

 

The standard of living and quality of life of the Chinese people are to be generally raised. Unemployment will be relatively low. Public services, including those of education, culture, social security, healthcare, and housing, will be provided through sounder systems, and people will have more equal access to basic public services. The modernization of education will see important progress, and the working age population will have significantly more years of education. The income gap will be narrowed, and the proportion of the middle-income population will grow. All rural poor people, as defined by the current Chinese criterion, will be lifted out of poverty, so there will no longer be any officially defined “poor county” in China, and the problem of general poverty in some regions will be solved.

 

Ecological and environmental quality is to be generally improved. Both the production methods and lifestyle will be greener, with lower carbon emission. The efficiency in the generation and use of energy and resources will be substantially raised. The consumption of energy and water resources, the use of land for construction, and the total carbon emission will be effectively controlled, while the total emission of main pollutants will be substantially cut. Major function areas and ecological security barriers will take initial shapes.

 

Regulatory structures in all areas are to become more mature and standardized, and the modernization of national governance systems and governance capacity is to see major progress. Fundamental regulatory structures of all areas are to be generally formed. The people’s democracy will be more developed, a government under the rule of law will be basically realized, and the public credibility of the judicial system will be significantly strengthened. Human rights will be guaranteed and property rights will receive effective protection. The new system of an open economy will be generally formed.

 

To achieve the goal of completing the building of a moderately well-off society in all aspects, we have put forward the new development ideas of “Innovation, Coordination, Green, Opening-Up and Sharing.” That means to develop innovatively according to the rules of economic and social development, innovating on our developing modes and institutions and mechanisms; to coordinate and balance urban and rural development, development in different areas, and that of various industries; to protect resources and ecology, conserve resources, improve environment in the pursuit of green development; to continue opening up to the rest of the world, and engage in mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries; and to enable all Chinese people share the results of reforms and development, and encourage our people to have friendly exchanges and business cooperation with people of other countries and enjoy the benefits of reforms and development together.

 

On new opportunities brought about by China’s economic development

 

At present, China is striding towards the grand goal of completing the building of a moderately well-off society in all aspects. In the next 5 years, China’s economy will grow by more than 6.5% annually, import more than 10 trillion USD worth of goods, invest over 600 billion USD overseas, and, at the same time, undertake hundreds of major projects. The sustained growth of China’s economy will help the recovery of the world economy, and the import and overseas investment by China will create more jobs for other countries. China’s efforts to upgrade its industries will create high social and economic rewards, offering the best investment opportunities with lucrative prospects. The upgrade of China’s consumption patterns will definitely lead to the increase of export of medium and high end products of other countries, helping these countries develop their industries and make more profits. China’s urbanization process and related development will also provide new investment opportunities for capital from other countries. The rapid development of mixed-ownership economy will give foreign capital more room for investment. China’s “going global” strategy will bring capital, technologies, and boost to industrialization to host countries. The “Belt and Road” Initiative proposed by China will effectively help the upgrade of industries in countries along the routes, promoting more efficient distribution of resources and more convenient flow of factors in Asia, Europe and Africa. I can say with full confidence that the healthy, stable and orderly development of the Chinese economy will definitely bring more development opportunities and benefits to the development of the world economy. China will continue contributing to the growth of the world economy.

 

China is a great country with a long history in the East, while Canada a wealthy country with a diverse culture and developed economy in the West. At present, China and Canada are both committed to deepening the strategic partnership and comprehensively elevating cooperation level. The upgrade and development of the Chinese economy will also provide new opportunities to Canada’s economic development. China is Canada’s second biggest trading partner, and our two countries enjoy strong economic and trade complementarities. The 13th Five-Year Plan will mean new business opportunities for agricultural, mineral and high-tech products in which Canada has its strengths. At the same time, China is Canada’s fourth largest origin of tourists. China’s development will also spell the prosperity of tourism in Canada. It is fair to say that China’s development will definitely help Canada’s development. I hope that we can all work hand-in-hand to expand areas of cooperation, deepen channels of exchanges, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly creating a brighter future for China-Canada relations.

 

Thank you!