Chinese Premier Highlights Economic Transformation and People's Livelihoods

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says China will make greater efforts to transform its economic development pattern in the next five years.

Speaking just after the end of the annual parliamentary session, Wen Jiabao also pledged that the government would work on improving people's livelihoods by addressing inflation and rising property prices.

Li Ningjing has the details.

China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy as a result of more than thirty years of rapid economic expansion. Its gross domestic product amounted to almost 40 trillion yuan last year.

Premier Wen Jiabao says now is time for China to aim higher.

"During the next five years, we will make the transformation of the economic development pattern our priority. The Chinese economy should depend on scientific advancement and the improvement of labor quality for future growth. We must make concrete efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of China's economic development."

Economists point out that China has mainly relied on massive inputs of low-end labor and capital to spur economic growth. This kind of economic takeoff has caused a wide range of problems, like pollution, wealth disparity and uneven regional development.

The National People's Congress, China's top legislature, has just approved a national development plan for the period from 2011 to 2015.

The plan sets the annual economic growth target at 7 percent for the next five years, much lower than the double-digit growth the country often achieved in the past.

Wen Jiabao says the plan requires officials to shift from pursing sheer economic expansion to achieving quality development and improving people's lives.

He says one of the most urgent tasks this year is controlling inflation and rising housing prices.

"Inflation, including commodity prices and housing prices, all affects people's lives and concerns their immediate interests. So combating inflation will be our priority among the various objectives of this year's macro-economic policies."

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, remains stubbornly high, rising 4.9 percent year on year in February.

Meanwhile, skyrocketing housing prices are still one of the chief complaints despite various tightening measures.
Wen Jiabao says the government will build 10 million welfare apartments this year to accommodate low-income residents.

He has urged local officials to take the task seriously, saying all residents should share the benefits of the country's economic development.

For CRI, I'm Li Ningjing.