The 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened its fifth plenary session Saturday in Beijing to draw a roadmap for the country's social and economic growth in the next five years.

The four-day meeting will discuss a suggestion draft made by the CPC Central Committee on the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010).

Judging from the policy measures adopted by the CPC Central Committee over the past few years, the next five-year plan focuses on the implementation of a scientific view of development, humanism and sustainable development.

As the first Five-Year-Plan after the concept of scientific development was proposed by the present government in 2003, the 11th Five-Year Plan will mark a turning point for China's social and economic development, said analysts.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held two meetings in July and in September, respectively, to confer on the key points that should be covered in the plan.

According to the meetings, the new Five-Year Plan will favor social services, aiming to realize a "harmonious society" through implementing the scientific concept of development.

To achieve more efficient growth, the plan will also stress Chinese innovation, noted the meetings.

The future five years are crucial for China's modernization as the country steers its social and economic train from extensive development onto the track of scientific development.

During the period from 1978 to 2004, China witnessed an average economic growth rate of 9.4 percent and became the world's sixth largest economy and the third largest trade nation.

With 85 percent of its population having entered a period of industrialization, issues in population, resources and environment have brought serious challenge, said Wang Mengkui, director general with Development Research Center under the State COuncil.

The cost to the environment, for example, has become too heavy to bear, Wang acknowledged.

Overheated investment since last year has exposed the disadvantages of the old development mode and made scientific development urgent.

The CPC Central Committee has widely solicited opinions and suggestions from the public on the design of the five-year plan. Top leaders made special probes to local areas while preparing the draft.

The closed-door meeting will issue a communique on October 11 and ensuing the approval of the suggestion draft at the plenary session, the National People's Congress (NPC) will fully discuss the specific contents of the plan in March of 2006.

Analysts said that in the 11th Five-Year Plan period the Chinese economy will be more integrated with the world economy and the mode China chooses will be of great significance to the world.

In a sense, only when China realizes scientific development can its "harmonious development" and "peaceful development" become true, said analysts.

Source: Xinhua