Transforming China's economy no easy task
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To boost worker welfare, China wants to see incomes rise as the economy expands.
Wen has said the government aims to create 45 million urban jobs over the next five years and reduce the number of people living in poverty. He said the government will make more efforts to increase incomes, raise minimum wages and basic pensions and raise the individual income tax threshold.
"The country has committed to shifting its focus to lifting households' income," Chi Fulin, executive director of the China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development.
"These measures aim to revamp the country's economy and make private consumption play a bigger role in bolstering the economy," said Ai Hongde, Communist Party chief of the Dongbei University of Finance and Economics.
"To power domestic consumption, the growth of people's income should be accelerated", he said.
International experiences show an economy will face corrections after continuous fast growth for two to three decades, said Wang Yiming, deputy head of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission.
"At this point, to lower the economic growth target appropriately and boost households' income for sustainable internal momentum is a must", Wang said.
However, boosting consumption is not a simple task. One current major obstacle in China is the lack of an effective social security net.
The government has vowed to increase social welfare spending, in areas like healthcare and social security, to release consumers' disposable income and encourage them to spend.
New direction
The government also pledges to push the economy in a new direction, away from massive investment in heavy industries and enormous but cheap labor.
Government policymakers are looking to new strategic industries to lead the transformation, promoting innovation not sweatshops.
The draft 12th Five-Year Plan aims to develop new strategic industries, targeting their value-added output to account for 8 percent of the country's GDP by 2015.
The industries include alternative energy, bio-technology, new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, advanced materials, alternative-fuel cars, energy-saving and environmental protection, according to the document.
The share of these sectors will be increased to 15 percent of China's GDP by 2020, according to an official document issued by the State Council, China's Cabinet, in October last year.
"China should substantially boost the new strategic industries to accelerate economic restructuring. These sectors, energy-efficient and huge in growth potential, are a significant force to drive future social and economic development," said Wu Qiaoqing, vice minister of environmental protection.8 "The key is to back scientific research, increase industrial core competitiveness and establish our own brands," Fang Xin, professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.
