Blueprint a sign of democratic process

Public feedback sought to make development plans more relevant to their needs

BEIJING: When the Communist Party of China draws up the blueprint for the country’s socioeconomic development for the next five years and beyond, people’s concerns matter to its policymaking.

In drawing up the proposals for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), which are being discussed at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, the party has extensively sought public opinions to make the plan more relevant to the country’s reality and the people’s desire to live a better life.

In the past months, President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, held a series of meetings and symposiums to obtain opinions and suggestions on the new five-year plan from economists, social experts, entrepreneurs, scientists, professionals outside the party and grassroots representatives.

For the first time in history, a twoweek campaign was launched in August to seek public input online for drafting the plan.

It received over one million opinions and suggestions from Internet users on a wide range of topics, including social governance, technological innovation, rule of law, the healthcare system, job creation, rural vitalisation, educational reforms and environmental protection. Some of them have been delivered to him, according to Xi.

Observers said that such a policymaking process, which is carried out in the formulation of the nation’s development blueprint, reflects the practice of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, which was described by Xi as “a type of whole-process democracy”.

That means all major legislative decisions in the country are based on legal procedures and democratic discussions as well as scientific and democratic decision-making, according to Xi.

In a written instruction in August, Xi required combining top-level design and public opinions in compiling the 14th Five-Year Plan, and stressed the need to broaden channels for the public to express their opinions and offer their suggestions.

The compilation of five-year plans involves all aspects of economic and social development and is closely related to people’s work and life, so people from all sectors of society should be encouraged to offer advice by diverse means so that social expectations and the wisdom of the people could be integrated into the plan, Xi said.

While presiding over a symposium attended by grassroots-level representatives in Changsha, Hunan province, last month, Xi stressed that “realising people’s aspirations to live a better life is the goal we strive for”. — China Daily/ANN