China adopts law on national development planning

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Thursday adopted a law governing how the country formulates and carries out its five-year development plans, formalizing a system that has long guided the world's second-largest economy.

The National Development Planning Law was passed at the closing meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Lawmakers on the same day also approved an outline of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint that will steer China's development from 2026 to 2030.

The law draws on China's long-standing experience in national development planning, codifies proven practices into a legal framework, and aims to reinforce the strategic guiding role of national development plans.

Since 1953, China has developed and implemented 14 five-year plans, helping drive economic and social development, improve living standards and strengthen the country's overall national strength.

Divided into six chapters, the law sets out provisions on the formulation, review and approval, and implementation of national development plans, as well as oversight of their implementation.

The law formalizes the process under which the Communist Party of China Central Committee formulates recommendations, the State Council drafts plans, and the NPC reviews and approves them before they are released.

According to the law, national development plans should outline China's strategic intentions and the government's priorities, and guide social entities in their activities.

It specifies that national development plans should include an analysis of the development environment; guidelines; key goals and indicators; major strategic tasks, policy measures and projects; and measures to ensure the plans' implementation.

The law emphasizes the importance of public consultation in the planning process. As part of this effort, authorities launched a monthlong online consultation on the 15th Five-Year Plan last year, drawing more than 3.11 million responses -- an illustration of China's whole-process people's democracy in action.

This law embodies the idea that development is for the people, relies on the people, and that its benefits are shared by the people, said Nie Xin, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Law.

The law also sets out requirements for implementing national development plans. It codifies a system for monitoring and evaluating plan implementation, including mid-term and final evaluations.

"The law provides strong institutional guarantees for the scientific formulation and effective implementation of national development plans within the framework of the rule of law," said Zhong Ying, a research fellow at the Institute of Contemporary China Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.