People’s living standards have been steadily improved: a whole raft of initiatives to benefit the people has seen implementation, and the people’s sense of fulfillment has grown stronger. Decisive progress has been made in the fight against poverty: more than 60 million people have been lifted out of poverty, and the poverty headcount ratio has dropped from 10.2 percent to less than 4 percent.
All-round progress has been made in the development of education, with remarkable advances made in the central and western regions and in rural areas. Employment has registered steady growth, with an average of over 13 million urban jobs created each year. Growth of urban and rural personal incomes has outpaced economic growth, and the middle-income group has been expanding.
A social security system covering both urban and rural residents has taken shape; both public health and medical services have improved markedly. Solid progress has been made in building government-subsidized housing projects to ensure basic needs are met.Social governance systems have been improved; law and order has been maintained; and national security has been fully enhanced.
Major achievements in economic development have been made. The result has been a constant improvement in the quality and effect of development. The economy has maintained a medium-high growth rate, making China a leader among the major economies. With the gross domestic product rising from 54 trillion to 80 trillion yuan, China has maintained its position as the world’s second largest economy and contributed more than 30 percent of global economic growth. Agricultural modernization has steadily advanced, with annual grain production reaching 600 million metric tons. The level of urbanization has risen by an annual average of 1.2 percentage points, and more than 80 million people who have moved from rural to urban areas have gained permanent urban residency.
Major steps in developing democracy and the rule of law have been taken. Good progress has been made in piloting the reform of the national supervision system, and effective measures have been taken to reform the system of government administration and the judicial system, and to develop systems to apply checks and oversight over the exercise of power.
Notable progress in building an ecological civilization have been made. Serious energy to ecological conservation have been devoted. As a result, the entire Party and the whole country have become more purposeful and active in pursuing green development, and there has been a clear shift away from the tendency to neglect ecological and environmental protection. Efforts to develop a system for building an ecological civilization have been accelerated; the system of functional zoning has been steadily improved; and progress has been made in piloting the national park system. Across-the-board efforts to conserve resources have seen encouraging progress; the intensity of energy and resource consumption has been significantly reduced. Smooth progress has been made in major ecological conservation and restoration projects; and forest coverage has been increased. Ecological and environmental governance has been significantly strengthened, leading to marked improvements in the environment. Taking a driving seat in international cooperation to respond to climate change, China has become an important participant, contributor, and torchbearer in the global endeavor for ecological civilization.