China's national advisory body began a meeting in Beijing on Thursday, concentrating on proposals for the country's next Five-Year Plan for the National Economy and Social Development.

The Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will meet for four days.

Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, gave the meeting an introduction to the 11th Five-Year Plan which will run from 2006-2010. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approved the plan at its just-concluded session in Beijing.

The draft plan calls for China to double its per capita Gross Domestic Product by 2010 from the level achieved in 2000 (US$848 according to an IMF estimate), improve its energy efficiency, and reduce its consumption of energy per unit of GDP by 20 percent from the current level. The plan calls on the country to create more jobs in urban areas and lift more people out of poverty.

Premier Wen said the new Five-Year Plan will hold to the principles of maintaining steady economic growth, speeding up the economy's structural adjustment and enhancing the standard of living for its citizens.

(CRI October 13, 2005)