Premier Li Keqiang emphasized that three major issues in China’s development progress — poverty relief, education in poor areas and environmental protection — should be regarded as the key to successful implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan during the State Council executive meeting on Nov 15.

The three weak links often lead to market malfunction or people’s dissatisfaction, which means the government needs to play a better role in resolving these issues. Meeting the urgent needs from people and market is also at the core of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Poverty reduction work has now entered a crucial period. The work has become a harder task to tackle, with tens of millions of poor people still stuck in concentrated poverty-stricken areas, which suffer under the restriction of both natural and historical conditions.

Poverty alleviation can only be achieved through proper planning from the central government, including comprehensive political measures and regional development.

The Premier also stressed that the key to lifting people out of poverty is education. Education should be ensured to provide opportunities for the poor population, in an effort to fundamentally change their living conditions.

In addition, people are suffering from continuing smog and bad weather, which require the central government to put greater efforts into protecting the environment. So the new development concept of the 13th Five-Year Plan has put more emphasis on this issue.