Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the government work report to the
third session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on
Friday.
The
report reviews the achievement China has made in 2019 on all fronts:
achieving stable economic growth, boosting people's living standards,
breaking new ground in science and technology innovations, and playing
an active role in the development of the global governance system.
China
is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected
more than 5 million people worldwide. The work report fully acknowledged
the difficulties China faced this year when Premier Li cautioned that
"we must redouble our efforts to minimize the losses resulting from the
virus and fulfill the targets and tasks for economic and social
development this year."
China
did not set a specific target for its economic growth in 2020. According
to Premier Li, this is because of uncertainties brought by the COVID-19
pandemic and the unpredictable global economic and trade environment.
However, other key targets for job creation, fiscal deficit and
consumption are outlined in the government work report.
CGTN
sketched out a quick snapshot of this year's government work report in
graphics.
Graphic One: China's goals for 2020 and achievements in 2019
The
first graphic compares China's 2019 goals and achievements with the
targets set for 2020. In 2019, China's GPD increased by 6.1 percent,
within the official growth target range of 6 percent to 6.5 percent. No
economic growth target has been set for this year.
Stabilizing employment is a priority this year, with over 9 million new
urban jobs set for 2020 compared to last year's target of 11 million.
China met and surpassed its 2019 goal by creating 13.52 million new
jobs.
Poverty reduction tops the agenda of Chinese policymakers this year.
China is en route to achieving its target of eradicating poverty in
rural areas and eliminating regional poverty. Official data shows 5.51
million Chinese living in poverty as of 2019; the goal set for this year
is to lift all of them out of poverty.
Graphic Two: Keywords in 2020 government work report
The
second graphic illustrates key words for this year's government work
report. Using the text from the speech, we generated a tree map that
highlights words that appeared most frequently in the report.
The
frequency of word choices makes it clear that development is of
paramount importance in this year's government work report, along with
stabilizing employment and battling the epidemic. The word "development"
appeared 76 times in Premier Li's speech, while the word "employment"
showed up 39 times and "epidemic" 34 times.
The
coronavirus pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to industries and a focus on
the economy is evident in Premier Li's frequent references to
enterprises, economy, and reform. In his speech, Premier Li laid out a
series of measures for companies, especially small and medium-sized
enterprises, which are among those hit hardest by the coronavirus
pandemic.
Poverty alleviation, the first of the three key battles for the
government to fight, also features heavily in the 2020 government work
report. China has reduced the number of rural poor population by 11.09
million, according to the report, and greater efforts would be made to
eliminate poverty in all remaining poor counties and villages.
Graphic Three: What's new in 2020 government work report (vs. 2019)?
The
third graphic highlights keywords that appeared for the first time in
the government work report this year, among which most are related to
battling the coronavirus, including keywords like "epidemic," "public
health" and "COVID-19."
One of
the key messages of Premier Li's speech for this year is that China must
recover from the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, with the
recognition that "China will face challenges like never before." In his
speech, Premier Li noted efforts that central and local governments have
taken to boost the resumption of work, production and business
activities.
"Six
guarantees" – ensuring security in employment, basic living needs,
operations of market entities, food and energy, stable industrial and
supply chains, and the normal function of primary-level governments – is
among the key words that appeared first in the government work report
this year. It reflects the Chinese leadership's resolve to advance
epidemic control and economic and social development in parallel.
Source: CGTN |