China's 12th Five-Year Plan: a potential game changer for economic restructuring and socio-economic development

Abstract

The 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP), 2010–2015, comes in at the critical juncture of China's political, economic and social development. It coincides with China's leadership transition when the younger generation of leadership under Xi Jinping will take power, and the new leaders are likely to pay more attention to the increasing demand across China for new direction in socio-economic development. China's economy having achieved spectacular growth at an annual average of 10% for over three decades is under a lot of structural stress and strains that are crying out for structural adjustment. Hence, one of the major economic objectives of the 12th FYP is to rebalance China's economic growth pattern by reducing its dependence on exports and increasing domestic demand as its major source of growth. Structural change is a natural part of the economic growth process, but it is not easy to speed up the economic restructuring process. This requires good policies as well as strong political commitment from the top leadership. The successful implementation of this important FYP will render China's economic growth more sustainable as well as better able to meet various social objectives. The 12th FYP could well be a significant ‘game changer’ if it would succeed in making the required breakthrough on many fronts. It has the spirit, but the real game change would need many more FYPs.