Economic growth to remain at core of policies, say officials and experts

China will prioritize high-quality development and keep economic development at the core of policies in the next five years while refining regulations to narrow income gaps, officials and experts said on Monday.

The report delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has put the quality of development in a more prominent position, said Mu Hong, deputy director in charge of routine work of the Office of the Central Committee for Deepening Overall Reform.

High-quality development needs to be achieved in all areas, including on the economic, social, cultural and ecological fronts, Mu said at a news conference to introduce and interpret the report on Monday.

Underscoring high-quality development as the foremost task for building a modern socialist country in all aspects, the report has further highlighted the significance of development quality in the long term and on all fronts, said Mu, who is also deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

In the new era, the principal contradiction facing Chinese society is that between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing need for a better quality of life, Mu said.

The report delivered by Xi on Oct 16 is seen as China's blueprint for building a modern socialist country in all respects for the next five years and beyond. It stressed that pursuing high-quality development and achieving common prosperity for all are essential requirements of Chinese modernization.

Officials said the nation's pursuit of common prosperity also requires efforts to press ahead with high-quality development.

The fair division of the "wealth cake" can happen only if the cake has been well made, Jiang Jinquan, director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, said at the news conference.

Therefore, on the one hand, China will focus on developing the economy and expanding the whole of society's wealth through ceaselessly pursuing high-quality development, Jiang said.

On the other hand, the nation will enhance the wealth distribution system with reasonable institutional arrangements to ensure a fair division of the "cake" of wealth and avoid economic polarization, Jiang said.

In terms of the strategic path toward high-quality development, Mu said the report has made it clear that the nation should accelerate efforts to foster the new development pattern and firmly implement the strategy of innovation-driven development.

The report also called for efforts to build a high-standard socialist market economy, advance rural vitalization across the board, promote coordinated regional development and advance high-standard opening-up, Mu said.

Experts said the report reaffirmed that economic development remains one of the country's policy priorities and signaled that measures may be taken to reinforce innovation, opening-up and green development as the key drivers of high-quality development.

China's fiscal and credit policies are expected to continue to support upgrades in manufacturing, transportation, aerospace and digitalization as the nation promotes high-quality development, analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a research note.