Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, has emphasized that modernization with Chinese characteristics represents a socialist modernization aimed at shared prosperity for all people. He underscored that public welfare must remain a fundamental value, and that development efforts should focus on ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods.
In the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, a comprehensive set of balanced and accessible policies is being actively implemented, yielding tangible results. Local administrations and government departments are diligently carrying out initiatives centered on public welfare, ensuring that the benefits of modernization reach the broader population in an equitable manner.
This spring, gig economy workers such as app-based drivers and food delivery personnel have received new forms of social security. Programs for occupational accident protection, initially piloted in 17 provinces, have now been expanded nationwide, and some workers are beginning to access social security and housing benefits. Jia Yasan, a food delivery worker, noted, “Before the Spring Festival, General Secretary Xi Jinping personally inquired about our work and living conditions. It made me realize the care and importance the Party and state place on us.”
President Xi consistently considers citizens’ daily concerns and urgent needs as matters of national significance. In the two major sessions this year, he highlighted the importance of understanding evolving public expectations and new features of welfare programs, ensuring adequate employment, increasing incomes for urban and rural residents, and improving the quality of public services and social security. The goal is to explore effective paths toward shared prosperity for all.
The draft of the 15th Five-Year Plan firmly embodies a people-centered development philosophy. Among 20 key indicators, those related to public welfare and quality of life are given the highest priority. Special attention has been placed on coordinating investment in both physical infrastructure and human resources across 109 major projects and programs.
Liu Su, Head of the Social Development Research Department at China’s National Development and Reform Commission’s Macroeconomic Research Institute, stated that the CPC Central Committee, under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, has consistently adopted a people-centered approach in planning economic and social development, always making the improvement of people’s lives the ultimate objective.
In the plan’s first year, successive people-focused policies have been actively implemented and producing results. Minimum monthly pensions for urban and rural residents have been increased, and annual subsidies for medical insurance have been expanded. An advance relief fund of 141 billion yuan has been allocated for those in distress. Subsidies are also being provided for the renovation of dilapidated housing and replacement of outdated household appliances.
New employment opportunities are being generated through the digital economy, high-quality manufacturing, and modern service sectors. The “Spring Breeze Employment Program” has already organized over 20,000 job fairs this year, creating more than 13 million new employment opportunities.
For elderly care, age-friendly and disability-friendly facilities, as well as food, bathing, and medical services, are being expanded in residential communities. Families with children aged 0–3 can now apply for an annual 3,600-yuan childcare subsidy. Free pre-primary education continues nationwide, and 150,000 new childcare centers are being established to reduce the financial burden of raising children.
To strengthen the national healthcare system, 114 types of medicines have been included under medical insurance this year. Through vocational training and expanded public services, the 15th Five-Year Plan will implement additional people-centered measures, further consolidating the foundation of modernization with Chinese characteristics while enhancing citizens’ sense of achievement, happiness, and security.
Source: Jinxia-Alim-Fei, China Media Group.