Only green growth counts [By Gu Peili / China.org.cn]

Following the direction-setting "Two Sessions" which took place during early March in Beijing, the focus now moves to the practical steps forward within the framework which has been laid out. The directions set out last week were aimed at putting flesh on the bones of the proposal on the 13th Five-Year Plan, as adopted at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee towards the end of 2015.

The aim set out in the Five-Year Plan was to facilitate the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020. Now, by the standards of some observers, China has already become prosperous; but these observers usually only see the business districts of the highly-developed areas. China is a vast country with a population approaching 1.4 billion, and with a historic vision of herself as a united and integrated polity.

Now, the annual "Two Sessions" offer an opportunity to review the plans of the central leadership so as to make them applicable across the enormous country. The five emphases of the central leadership were announced as "innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing." It is time to analyse how these objectives are being driven forward.

"Innovation" has long been recognized as a key to future growth. In the early years of China's reform policy, growth was driven by the production of existing technology at a cheaper rate than elsewhere. China has now moved onto the next stage, where the nationwide striving for educational excellence must bear fruit in the form of new scientific-technological developments. Here there is no longer any reason why China need lag behind the outside world; nor any reason why the Chinese interior need lag behind the more developed coastal regions provided that basic facilities for scientific-technical education are universally accessible.