12th Five-Year Plan
I have always emphasized that China's revitalization is not just about the size of the economy. More importantly, it concerns the quality of our human resources, and how much progress we have made in scientific and technological development. In this respect, we must establish and improve our institutional arrangements for scientific and technological advances and the cultivation of talents. It is important that we carry out reform to combine the efforts of industry, academia and research institutions. I believe two figures are actually even more important than GDP. One is the proportion of the expenditure on education in GDP, and the other is R&D expenditure in GDP. Both concern the innovation capabilities of our country, and they both can offer the strongest and most reliable factors of China's sustained development.
With respect to transforming our mindset, it is important that we should no longer worship GDP. Of course, to promote our social progress and improve people's livelihood, it is important to grow the economy. At the same time, our economic growth must not come at the expense of natural resource and energy depletion or environmental pollution. That kind of development is not sustainable and will adversely impact on our children and grandchildren.
The evaluation system for government officials' performance is of vital importance in achieving transformation. We must ensure that in evaluating their performance, we not only take into account the economic aggregates at the local level, but also take into account whether there is coordinated economic and social development, whether social fairness and justice have been promoted, and whether the people are leading a better life. If we cannot address these above-mentioned areas, it will be difficult for us to guarantee full implementation of our plan.
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