Xu Lin:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. Welcome to the first press conference held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The CPC Central Committee's news release mechanism has been established  to meet the needs of new situations and present-day demands as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. It is an important institutional arrangement and innovation for upholding and strengthening overall Party leadership and improving the Party's governance capability.

The theme of this CPC Central Committee's press conference is introducing and elaborating on the guiding principles of the 19th CPC Central Committee's fifth plenary session.

The 19th CPC Central Committee held its fifth plenary session in Beijing from Oct. 26 to 29. This was an important meeting as China is about to achieve the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is embarking on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country.

The session examined and approved the Proposals  of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 . It has made systematic and strategic plans regarding the objectives set through the year 2035 and the economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

Today, we have invited officials from relevant departments, who will brief you on the fifth plenary session, explain the content of the Proposals, and answer your questions.

Present at today's press conference are:

Mr. Wang Xiaohui, deputy head in charge of routine work of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee;

Mr. Jiang Jinquan, director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee;

Mr. Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs;

Mr. Ning Jizhe, deputy head and member of the leading Party members group of the National Development and Reform Commission, head and secretary of the leading Party members group of the National Bureau of Statistics;

Mr. Wang Zhigang, minister and secretary of the leading Party members group of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Since there are many foreign reporters present, simultaneous interpretation services are available throughout the press conference. If you ask questions in English, we will provide translations in Chinese.

Next, let's give the floor to Mr. Wang Xiaohui.

Wang Xiaohui:

Friends from the media at home and abroad, good morning. It is my pleasure to brief you on the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

The 19th CPC Central Committee held its fifth plenary session in Beijing from Oct. 26 to 29, 2020. The session was presided over by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and was attended by members and alternate members of the Central Committee. Members of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and other leaders concerned were present at the session in a non-voting capacity, as were some community-level delegates to the 19th CPC National Congress and some experts and scholars. Participants at the plenary session heard and deliberated over the report on the work of the Political Bureau presented by General Secretary Xi Jinping on behalf of the Political Bureau. The participants also examined and approved the Proposals  of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 , after hearing explanatory remarks given by General Secretary Xi Jinping about the draft document. At the close of the session, General Secretary Xi made an important speech. The session concluded after successfully completing all items on the agenda.

The participants fully affirmed the work that the Political Bureau has carried out since the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, and highly appraised the defining achievements China has made in completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. They unanimously agreed that in face of the complicated international situation and formidable tasks of advancing domestic reform and development while maintaining stability, particularly under the grave impacts of COVID-19, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has stayed true to the CPC's original aspiration and founding mission, and has united and led the whole Party and people of all ethnic groups in breaking new ground and forging ahead, and worked strenuously to advance various programs of the Party and the country while resolutely addressing all kinds of risks and challenges, thus steering the giant ship of socialism with Chinese characteristics steadily forward. Such experience has once again proved that with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core of the CPC Central Committee and the whole Party to take the helm, and with all CPC members and the whole nation united as one, we can surely overcome difficulties and obstacles of all kinds on the journey ahead, and vigorously advance socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The plenary session is an important meeting of overarching and historic significance that has been held as China enters a new stage of development and is at a critical moment of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The 14th Five-Year Plan period covers the first five years during which China will start a new journey toward the second Centenary Goal of fully building a modern socialist country after having achieved the first Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. China now is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development, while facing profound and complex changes at home and abroad. Internationally, the world is undergoing momentous changes unseen in a century with quickening pace of evolution. The COVID-19 pandemic is exerting an extensive, far-reaching impact around the world, economic globalization is encountering headwinds, and dramatic changes are taking place in the international economic, scientific and technological, cultural, security and political landscapes. All of these place China in an increasingly complex external environment. Domestically, as our country has come to a key moment for realizing national rejuvenation, the principal contradiction facing the Chinese society has changed and our economy is transitioning to high-quality development. China enjoys multiple favorable conditions and strengths to pursue sustained development and, at the same time, faces many difficulties and challenges to come. At a historic moment when the timeframes of the two centenary goals converge, the CPC Central Committee convened the fifth plenary session to discuss matters relating to the 14th Five-Year Plan, draw up a blueprint for China's future development, and identify the direction and goals for the journey ahead. This is of great significance for inspiring the whole Party and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to overcome the various risks and challenges on our journey ahead, and make a good start for building a modern socialist China in all respects.

The most important outcome of the session is its adoption of the Proposals  of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 . The Proposals gives an in-depth analysis of the conditions facing China's development, both at home and abroad. The Proposals outlines the long-range prospect of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035, and sets forth the guiding principles, main targets, priority tasks and major measures for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. It offers answers to what kind of development to pursue under the new conditions and how to achieve it. The session's participants all agreed that the document fully reflects the new changes in our current times, suits the requirements of the new era and responds to the new aspirations of the people. It will serve as a guiding document as China sets out on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country and realizing its second centenary goal. It will be a guide of action for China's economic and social development in the next five years and beyond.

A distinct feature of the Proposals is that it focuses on the principal contradiction facing the Chinese society and outlines a number of strategic and innovative measures for different fields. For instance, it defines fully building a modern socialist country as a foremost element of the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy; it identifies pursuing high-quality development as the main theme and deepening supply-side structural reforms as the main task; and it identifies self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology as being the strategic support to China's national development. It also emphasizes the strategic importance of expanding domestic demand, and underscores the need to embed the new vision for development and the idea of security-oriented development in all fields and in the entire process of China's development. For the first time, more notable and substantial progress toward the common prosperity of all Chinese people is set as a long-range goal. In particular, the document includes strategic steps for fostering a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, and specifies the main priorities and primary tasks for this endeavor. These strategic and innovative measures highlight the outstanding problems and areas of weakness in China's development, and respond to people's aspirations and wishes. They are significant for keeping the development initiative in China's own hands, for upgrading China's strength in competition, and for ensuring long-term and steady progress in China's development.

That's all of my introduction. Thank you.