For a better life

Over the past five years, the Chinese leadership has been working to shore up weak links regarding people's livelihoods.

At the end of 2015, China had more than 54 million rural residents living in poverty.

Commanding the country's fight against poverty, Xi put forward clear work plans and targeted measures at each key moment. By the end of 2019, China's poverty head count ratio had dropped to 0.6 percent.

The country is now in the final stretch of its plan to eradicate poverty. Xi told the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September that China is confident of meeting the poverty eradication target in the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China rolled out a slew of measures to address people's concerns: More than 60 million new urban jobs were created; over 50 million urban residents moved from unsuitable housing to new homes; nearly 30 million elderly people were provided with old-age care subsidies; and in the nine-year compulsory education stage, the number of dropouts due to poverty fell to zero.

The average life expectancy of the Chinese people reached 77.3 years as of the end of 2019. Over 95 percent of the population is covered by basic health insurance plans.

The year 2020 was unusual due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19.China's leadership waged a war against the virus, not giving up on any life and covering all medical costs for confirmed coronavirus patients. "We are willing to do whatever it takes to protect people's lives!" Xi once said.

In 2020, China was among the first countries to bring COVID-19 under control, resume work and reopen schools and businesses.

The next five years will usher China into a new phase of development. They will be the first five years of the country's new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country.

The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, which started on Monday and is set to run through Thursday in Beijing, will review proposals for a development blueprint and chart the course for the future.

Xinhua