Xinhua Finance:

The draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan sets out the direction of development for the next five years. What measures and mechanisms will be put in place to ensure the effective implementation of all tasks and initiatives and the successful achievement of goals and targets? We have also noted that the current NPC is reviewing the draft National Development Planning Law. What role will this play in ensuring the implementation of the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan? Thank you.

Zheng Bei:

Thanks for your questions. I will answer them. On March 5, while joining deliberations with his fellow deputies from the Jiangsu delegation, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that formulating plans must be accompanied by implementation. Sound planning and strong implementation must go hand in hand. After this year's NPC reviews and approves the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, we will, in accordance with the arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, further strengthen the full-cycle mechanism for plan implementation and push forward with a nail-driving spirit. We will focus on four key areas to ensure effective delivery.

First, we will strengthen the planning system to ensure effective implementation. To achieve the goals and tasks set out in the 15th Five-Year Plan, we will firmly establish and apply a correct approach to evaluating governmental performance. National special plans and regional implementation schemes will be developed and managed through a checklist approach. Key tasks in the outline will be further detailed and extended across areas, including technological innovation, Digital China, agricultural and rural modernization, equal access to basic public services, and Beautiful China. We will also make special arrangements for regional strategic priorities. At the same time, we will strengthen coordination across plans at all levels and categories, reducing their number while raising their quality, to ensure that major industrial development and key infrastructure projects align with the national strategic layout.

Second, we will strengthen implementation through annual plans and policy coordination. We will ensure the annual plans provide continuous support for the implementation of the outline by translating its objectives, targets, tasks and measures into detailed, concrete and actionable steps in annual plans. We will also refine the mechanism for coordinating policies to better implement the plan. This includes strengthening the provision and guarantee of public resources — including fiscal budgets, government investment and land supply — to support major strategic tasks, policy measures and projects defined in the plan.

Third, we will strengthen implementation through monitoring and evaluation. We will strengthen dynamic monitoring, midterm evaluation, and final assessment of planning implementation, keeping a close watch on changing circumstances and progress. We will regularly review the completion status of key goals and indicators, particularly binding targets, alongside the progress of priority tasks and major projects. Where gaps emerge, we will move quickly to strengthen and improve implementation, ensuring all goals and tasks are met on schedule.

Fourth, we will ensure implementation by strengthening the rule of law. Through decades of formulating and implementing five-year plans, upholding the principle of planning by law has proven to be one of the most valuable lessons learned. As you said, this year's NPC is currently reviewing the National Development Planning Law, which is a milestone event. This law codifies our Party's proven practices in using medium- to long-term planning to guide economic and social development under socialist market economy conditions. The enactment and implementation of the National Development Planning Law will, through legal means, clarify the responsibilities and specific arrangements for plan implementation, ensuring that national development planning proceeds smoothly along the path of the rule of law.

The blueprint has been drawn, and now is the time to forge ahead. We believe that, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and through the concerted efforts of all sides, the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan will be effectively implemented. Over the next five years, we will reach new heights in economic and social development, make major breakthroughs in strategic tasks of overarching importance, and lay a more solid foundation for basically realizing socialist modernization, delivering a result people can be proud of. Thank you.