Summary

The recently concluded Two Sessions 2021 or “Lianghui”, the annual meetings of China’s major political bodies – the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, CPPCC and the National People’s Congress, NPC, revealed China’s next five-year roadmap, and priority areas of development to achieve sustainable growth and lead innovation.

Major documents approved and released at this year’s Two sessions include:

• the government work report
• the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035
• the 2021 plan for national economic and social development
• the central and local budgets for 2021

Specifically, the Government Work Report has set out key targets and priorities for the work of the government this year. Some of the concrete targets to be achieved during the 14th Five-Year Plan period as set in the Report, include,

• On macro economy and employment: China has set a 2021 GDP growth goal of “more than 6 per cent” but has not set any concrete targets for the 14^th Five-Year Plan period as a whole, instead aiming for growth “within a reasonable range”. Jobs continue to be a government priority, while increasing income levels, environmental improvement and price stability are also important goals. At the same time, government bodies at all levels should “continue to live on a tight budget”.
• On sci-tech innovation: domestic scientists will be given greater autonomy in utilising funds for research and China will continue to encourage business start-ups in line with innovation growth. On 16 March, in his newly published article, Chinese President Xi Jinping also called for committed work in independent innovation, stressing that China “cannot ask for, buy or beg for core technologies in key fields from other countries”.
• On education and health: China will provide strong support for pre-school education and kindergartens benefiting public interests, including private owned ones. China will support the development of private medical institutions and promote Internet Plus Healthcare initiatives.

The draft outline of the new Five-Year Plan reiterates China’s focus on establishing equitable and quality education, the Plan will gives us a sense of strategies and approaches to be taken in the education sector for the next five years, including,  

• Promote high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education and the integration of urban and rural areas, and increase the gross enrolment rate of pre-school education to over 90 per cent.
• Enhance the adaptability of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and explore the apprenticeship system with Chinese characteristics. 　　
• Improve the quality of Higher Education, support the development of high-level research-oriented universities, accelerate the training of talents in prioritised subject areas of science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine, and steadily expand the scale of professional postgraduates.
• Develop high-quality professional teachers, support high-level comprehensive universities to strengthen normal education (education of teaching), support high-level engineering universities to teach on majors/disciplines of vocational education and professional skills
• Deepen education reform, support, and standardise the development of education at private sector, and promote high-quality Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, leverage the advantages of online education, improve the lifelong learning system

Comment by the British Council

The Education related plans announced during the Two Sessions remain in line with China’s longer-term plans outlined in China Education Modernisation 2035. There remains an ambition to continue to develop ‘World-Class Universities and Disciplines’ and align universities areas of research with wider development goals. UK universities should take note of these priority fields as areas of collaboration that are most likely to receive support and interest from institutional partners and local and central government.

China is continuing to look at ways to drive more students into vocational education and apprenticeships as seen most recently in the government’s announcement to introduce bachelor’s level vocational education.

At the basic and compulsory education level China is continuing to try to address the urban rural balance and ensure equitable education for all young people.

Sources:

1. Full Text (English) of the 2021 Government Work Report: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/download/2021-3-12/report2021.pdf
2. Full Text (Chinese) of the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021-03/13/content_5592681.htm
3. Education highlights of the Outline of the 14^th Five-Year Plan and the 2021 Government Work Report: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_zt/moe_357/2021/2021_zt01/gzbg/jiaoyu/202103/t20210315_519783.html; http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_zt/moe_357/2021/2021_zt01/yw/202103/t20210314_519710.html