The annual government work report, delivered by the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, has significance not only for the Chinese but also for people around the world.

The data about China’s economic development in 2014 is very important, as it assesses the outcome of the development of the Chinese economy in the past year — and the country’s plans for this year give a certain impetus to the development of the world economy. It is very important that China’s partners can make future plans according to this original data.

We can see that the earlier prediction of China’s 2015 GDP has come true, with the growth target set to “about 7 percent”. Most experts think that this figure is feasible as the government reserved space for extra growth — and it will ensure the necessary level of employment, which is the “New Normal” concept used by the Chinese leadership.

A slowdown in the Chinese economy had to come sooner or later after rapid development in the past decades. It is important to understand the conflict within the economic system (between economic development and the lower growth rate) — and to realize how this affects the welfare of residents, social stability and security.

The Chinese government openly recognizes existing threats and risks, takes active measures concerning restructuring the economy amid new conditions — and at the same time keeps calm and maintains continuity.

For foreign partners, including Russia, the parts of the report concerning international relations are extremely important. We certainly noted that China aims to take more active measures on imports, encouraging Chinese enterprises to take part in infrastructure construction abroad and international investment cooperation — and the country will also take steps to further open up its market to overseas investors.

I believe all these measures will boost Sino-Russian relations.

I would also like to point out that Premier Li mentioned the importance of holding celebrations marking the 70th anniversary since the “people of the world defeated fascism and militarism in World War II”, and he called for a fair assessment of history.

...

We can see that China’s most important achievement concerns a steady increase in incomes. Additionally, the increase in purchasing power has been achieved in different regions, in both urban and rural areas, over several years. All these issues reveal China’s important role on the world stage, and also help stimulate consumption.

Of course, the government’s efforts to balance and equitably distribute income growth are also very important. As presented in the report, China’s rural incomes reached more than one third of city incomes for the first time in 13 years. In Russia, we have a saying: “The road can be defeated by walking”, and I can say that the Chinese government made great progress.

Also, Chinese leaders coordinated the development of towns and villages, and in 2014 they introduced the concept of “New Normal”. The new concept means that the cities created 13 million job opportunities, 3 million more than expected. The government also launched the reform of residence registration, and adopted a series of measures for the development of social security, dealing with the issues of pensions, education and healthcare. Therefore, generally speaking, if I had to point out to one highlight from the government report, I would choose social issues.

...

For the year 2015, we expect first and foremost a major breakthrough in the field of economic cooperation between our two countries ... Russian experts have started to discuss the possibility of bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China’s initiative of the “Silk Road Economic Belt”.

-- Andrey Ivanovich Denisov,

Russian ambassador to China

This excerpt was translated from Russian.