Premier Li Keqiang set forth the requirements for building a well-off society in an article published by People’s Daily on Nov 6, in the wake of the approval of a proposal for China’s development over the next five years.

Underscoring the “decisive” significance of the next five years for finishing building a moderately prosperous society, the Premier raised specific requirements for accomplishing the goal, giving top priority to development, while underlining innovation, people’s livelihood, environment and further reform and opening up.

“We must be adamant in pursuing development as the top priority, while promoting the quality and efficiency of development as our central task,” said the Premier in the article.

He also urged comprehensively deepening reform and implementing an innovation strategy.

“We need to develop twin engines to drive development: mass entrepreneurship and innovation, paired with increased supplies of public goods and services,” he said.

Although China’s GDP and other major economic indicators are on top of the world, our GDP per capita is only one-seventh of that of the United States and 70 percent of the world average, and there is still a big gap between our country and developed countries in innovation, productivity and social welfare, Premier Li noted.

Even when we achieve the five-year goals by 2020, our GDP per capita still amounts to 90 percent of the world average level, he added.

The Premier continued to set forth the dual objectives of maintaining a medium-high-level growth rate and moving toward a medium-high-level of development, and explained that the dual objectives mean promoting a development with higher quality, efficiency, fairness and sustainability.

To achieve the dual objectives, we must tap into the potential of domestic demand and promote mass innovation and entrepreneurship, he said.

The Premier went on to urge speeding up implementation of the “Made in China 2025” and the “Internet Plus” strategies and promotion of an advanced manufacturing industry.

In recent years, the service industry developed rapidly, accounting for about half of the GDP, noted Premier Li. He called for further reform and opening up of the service industry, underscoring the development of manufacturing-related, high-end and emerging service industries.

Whether people’s living standard and quality are universally improved is the yardstick to evaluate whether we have finished building a moderately prosperous society, the Premier said.

He urged continually increasing personal incomes, improving the public service system, and working to solve the problems that ordinary people are most concerned about.

“To increase the supplies of public goods and services not only guarantees a universal improvement of people’s living standard and quality, but also serves as a significant engine for economic development,” said Premier Li.

Pointing to the next five years, he also called for a significant increase in the effectiveness of energy use, a sharp reduction in major pollutants emission, and an effective control over energy and water resources consumption, land used for construction purposes and carbon emission.

Premier Li continued to underline the importance of deepening reform and further opening up to overcome systemic and institutional problems.

“By 2020, we must achieve significant progress in modernizing China’s governance system and capacity for governance,” said the Premier.