China's 13th Five-Year Plan Focuses on Innovation

China this week unveiled its 13th Five-Year Plan at the annual session of the national legislature, which opened Saturday.  The Plan provides a roadmap for policy priorities, as well as economic and social goals for China over the next five years.  This is the first Five-Year Plan drafted under the President Xi Jinping.

The CPC has set forth a lofty goal of becoming a world leader in high technology industries such as semiconductors and in the next generation of chip materials, robotics, aviation equipment and satellites.  China also plans to increase its R&D spending to 2.5 percent of GDP for the five-year period, up from 2.1 percent of GDP for the previous five years..

In a speech opening the session of parliament, Premier Li Keqiang declared that innovation is the primary driving force for the country's development.  China will implement its "cyber power strategy", the Plan states, emphasizing the importance of controlling the Internet in China.  This has sparked concern with foreign businesses operating in China.

This year’s proposed target for GDP expansion has been set at a range between 6.5 per cent to 7 percent.  Premier Li said that innovation would be the top driving force for future growth,  By 2020, 60 per cent of China’s economic growth would come from improvements in technology and science, he added.

Oh, and by the way. . .  that technology driving China's growth will be protected by Chinese patents.  Is your company ready to compete head on with China?

The actual plan can be found (in Chinese) here, but an excellent summary by APCO Worldwide is available here.

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