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Chinese Leader Xi Outlines 5-Year Plan 10/20 07:56

   Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered a speech Monday on the opening day of a 
major meeting of the ruling Communist Party to approve a draft plan laying out 
its goals for the country over the next five years.

   BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered a speech Monday on the 
opening day of a major meeting of the ruling Communist Party to approve a draft 
plan laying out its goals for the country over the next five years.

   A short dispatch from the official Xinhua News Agency said Xi "expounded on 
the Party leadership's draft proposals" for the next five-year plan for 
national economic and social development, which will cover 2026-2030. It did 
not provide any details.

   The latest plan comes at a time of growing challenges and uncertainty for 
China, including a persistently sluggish economy, foreign restrictions on its 
access to the latest technologies and high tariffs imposed on its exports to 
the United States.

   A Xinhua editorial said that the plan should focus on "high-quality" 
development and technological innovation, while also ensuring national security 
is protected and the benefits of economic growth are spread fairly and more 
widely.

   "There will be hardships and obstacles on our way forward, and we may 
encounter major tests," the editorial said in discussing economic and national 
security goals. "We must be prepared to deal with a series of new risks and 
challenges."

   Analysts and investors are watching the meeting to look for clues about how 
the plan will balance economic and security interests, and to what extent the 
plan will call for structural changes to boost consumer spending and manage an 
aging society.

   This week's four-day meeting brings together about 200 voting members and 
170 alternate members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

   The body will approve the draft five-year plan, though full details likely 
won't be released until it is formally approved at the legislature's next 
annual meeting, expected in March.

   Ahead of the meeting, the Defense Ministry announced late last week that 
nine senior officers suspected of corruption had been expelled from the 
Communist Party. Eight were members of the Central Committee, and their removal 
from the party allows replacements to be named to the committee.