III. Major Tasks for Economic and Social Development in 2021

 

  In 2021, we will thoroughly implement the Party Central Committee’s guidelines, plans, and policies for economic and social development for the 14th Five-Year Plan period, put into practice the guiding principles of the Central Economic Work Conference, and complete the tasks outlined in the Report on the Work of the Government. We will ensure that we have an accurate understanding of the new development stage, put into practice the new development philosophy, accelerate the creation of a new pattern of development, and coordinate development and security. We will focus our work on the following areas.

1. Implementing the policy of preventing inbound cases and domestic resurgences while ensuring effective routine Covid-19 control

We will ensure the close integration of routine, targeted prevention with local emergency response efforts, while improving our ability to deal with sudden new developments in the epidemic situation.

1) We will continue to optimize routine epidemic prevention measures.

We will make the prevention of inbound cases our number one priority. We will strictly enforce pre-departure prevention and control measures for China-bound travellers, improve the public health system at ports of entry, and ensure full nucleic acid testing coverage of inbound travellers before they enter the country. We will strengthen the preventative disinfection of cold chain foods and other imported goods, and intensify nucleic acid tests for personnel, environments, and goods at key locations. We will improve imported cold chain product tracing capabilities at both the national and provincial levels.

We will strengthen nucleic acid testing capabilities to meet the demands of routine epidemic control. We will push forward the research and production of vaccines as well as immunization in a science-based manner, while at the same time guaranteeing their safety and effectiveness. The principle of early detection, reporting, quarantine, and treatment will be strictly observed. We will further improve the treatment of the disease. We will promptly release epidemic information in order to guarantee transparency.

 

2) We will move faster in improving the national public health emergency management system.

We will put into effect the plan for improving the public health emergency supply system along with the plan for strengthening public health capacity with regard to epidemic control and treatment, and increase our preparedness in terms of materials and technology.

We will strengthen public health infrastructure and improve the response system for public health emergencies. We will reform and improve the operating mechanisms of the disease prevention and control system, and refine the infectious disease and public health emergency monitoring systems.

We will optimize the distribution of medical resources and health workers, create a graduated, region-specific system for the treatment of major epidemics, and improve our ability to deal with major public health emergencies. We will support the construction of medical waste disposal facilities.

3) We will actively promote international cooperation on epidemic control.

We will support the World Health Organization in pooling resources and ensuring the effective and equitable distribution of vaccines. We will continue supporting countries and regions with weak response capabilities, continue to play our role as the world’s largest supplier of epidemic supplies, and promote the development of a global health community.

2. Accelerating the development of science and technology toward greater self-reliance and working to upgrade industrial foundations and modernize industrial chains

We will strengthen our strategic science and technology capabilities. We will continue to boost basic research, applied research, and the commercial application of scientific and technological achievements in order to increase the core competitiveness of Chinese industry. China’s spending on R&D will increase by over 7% this year.

1) We will strengthen our capacity for scientific and technological innovation.

We will accelerate the construction of national laboratories and the reorganization of the system of key national laboratories. We will promptly formulate a 10-year action plan for basic research with the focus on developing a number of basic research centers. We will strength research on core technologies in key fields and carry forward the Sci-Tech Innovation 2030 Agenda. We will reform the way in which major science and technology projects are implemented, and extend the open competition mechanism of selecting the best candidates to lead these projects. We will formulate and implement a medium- and long-term national plan for scientific and technological development (2021-2035).

We will guide the development of new types of infrastructure, and accelerate innovation in artificial intelligence, quantum information, brain science, and bio-breeding.

We will move faster to turn Beijing, Shanghai, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into international science and technology innovation centers. We will vigorously promote the development of the Huairou, Zhangjiang, Hefei, and Greater Bay Area comprehensive national science centers, and formulate a high-quality plan for developing the Chengdu-Chongqing area into a science and technology innovation center with nationwide influence. We will strengthen the innovation and development capabilities of national innovation demonstration zones, new- and high-tech industry development parks, and economic and technological development zones. We will optimize the distribution of national industrial innovation centers, technological innovation centers, manufacturing innovation centers, engineering research centers, and enterprise technology centers.

We will organize the implementation of integrated innovation demonstration projects, encourage large enterprises to share resources, scenarios, applications, and innovation demands with small and medium enterprises, and create an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem that is integrated with industrial and supply chains.

We will make use of the mechanism for providing preferential tax treatment to encourage enterprises to increase R&D spending, and continue to implement the policy of granting 75% extra tax deductions on enterprise’s R&D costs while introducing a 100% deduction for manufacturing enterprises.

We will continue to encourage business startups and innovation, and support the building of demonstration centers for entrepreneurship and innovation. We will ensure the success of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week and of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Day in 2021. We will foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship characterized by dedication, pursuit of perfection, a keen focus, and tolerance for failures, and refine mechanisms that encourage a process of trial-and-error.

We will further reform the system for science and technology management, coordinate the allocation of projects, centers, personnel, and funds, and increase people’s scientific knowledge. We will improve the incentive system for scientific and technological personnel and the mechanism for evaluating advances in science and technology, and help young people to form the main body of our scientific research efforts. We will continue with comprehensive innovation reforms.

We will improve the stable functioning of funding mechanisms for basic research and boost spending in this area by a considerable amount. The central government expenditures on basic research will be increased by 10.6%. We will improve financial support for innovation and direct more investment into basic research, R&D, and the commercialization of new advances.

2) We will revitalize and develop the real economy.

We will implement a new five-year plan to enhance the core competiveness of the manufacturing industry, launch an initiative to develop advanced manufacturing clusters, and create pilot zones for the high-quality development of manufacturing. We will refund all due VAT credits to advanced manufacturing enterprises on a monthly basis, raise the proportion of loans to the manufacturing sector, and increase investment in equipment upgrades and technology transformations in this sector. We will accelerate the structural adjustment and green transformation of key industries, press ahead with the development of clusters of strategic emerging industries, and enhance technological innovation and public services.

We will implement the policies on the high-quality development of the integrated circuit and software industries in the new era. We will strengthen industry management to promote the robust and orderly development of new-energy vehicles, while also accelerating the development of infrastructure, industrial environment, and other supporting systems for intelligent vehicles. We will move faster in expanding the new energy industry, and enhance our capacity for new energy absorption and storage.

We will vigorously develop and expand the bioeconomy and promote the integrated development of biotechnology. We will speed up R&D and the industrial production of urgently needed medicines and high-end medical equipment.

We will promote the large-scale application and industrial development of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System. We will gradually internationalize and modernize our aviation supply chains.

We will continue with the trials for the integrated development of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries. We will make full use of the industrial internet, industrial software, and new-generation information technology in accelerating the development of manufacturing services.

We will improve the recycling system for old home appliances and facilitate the production-consumption-recycling chain for home appliances.

We will protect and develop China’s time-honored brands, and ensure the success of 2021 Chinese Brands Day.