China Voice: New approach vital for China's development

BEIJING, Jan. 7 -- The concepts of innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing proposed by the Chinese leadership should guide and give focus to the development path of the world's second largest economy.

Securing the direction and development pattern for a big nation like China is far from an easy job.

This new approach has been informed by many bitter lessons, the situations at home and abroad, and the singling out of prominent problems China encounters.

During his first inspection tour of 2016 in the southwest municipality of Chongqing, President Xi Jinping heralded the new concept guiding principles and "a prescription" to the faltering global recovery and domestic economy, which has entered a "new normal" state featuring slower growth.

To truly translate the concept, well-targeted reforms must be implemented.

The priority, path, order and methods of reforms should satisfy China's development demands as well as people's expectations.

The year 2016 is the first year of the new Five-Year Plan for national development and an opportunity to make the final push to achieve the building of a "moderately prosperous society in all respects" by 2020.

Eying innovation-driven development, there is still ample opportunity to make major technological breakthroughs.

To ensure the economy can sustain growth, efforts should be taken to advance supply-side reform to enable the supply system to better cater to consumers, and address issues like excess capacity, housing inventory, and unprofitable "zombie" state-owned enterprises.

Highlighting precision in poverty relief, measures tailored to suit different regions and groups are needed to lift more than 70 million people out of poverty before 2020.

A better social security network that could boost public interests should be put into operation.

More than anything, it is high time that thinking and practice, which was not in line with the new development concept, are adjusted to ensure the new approach is correctly translated into practice.