The fifth session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress commences in the provincial capital of Hangzhou on the morning of Jan 26. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

The draft document forThe 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economy and Societal Development in Zhejiang Provincewas released and reviewed at the fifth session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress in the provincial capital of Hangzhou on Jan 26.

The blueprint sets out a number of ambitious targets for Zhejiang to reach by 2025: Zhejiang's gross domestic product (GDP) reaches 8.5 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion) and its GDP per capita tops 130,000 yuan; the industrial value-added created by digital economy accounts for around 60 percent of the province's GDP; the urbanization rate for the permanent residential population reaches around 75 percent; the ratio of R&D expenses to the GDP reaches around 3.3 percent; life expectancy surpasses 80 years; the income ratio of urban residents to rural residents falls below 1.9; Zhejiang forms an olive-shaped social structure, with the bulk made up of the middle-income group.

The blueprint also provides a number of guiding principles for Zhejiang to comply with throughout the 14th Five-Year Plan period, including: building an innovation-driven economy; pursuing balanced and coordinated development between different regions; being a pioneer in the country's efforts to build an ecological civilization; consistently boosting consumption, investment, and foreign trade; safeguarding public welfare; as well as taking precautions against various risks involving food, resources, economy, and public security.

Zhejiang's industrial policies included: accelerating the development of the digital economy and emerging industries of strategic significance, greatly upgrading conventional manufacturing sectors; creating more "single-item champion manufacturers" ,which are those enterprises committed to a single segment of the manufacturing sector, while also boasting world-advanced technologies and one of the largest market share in their segment; building numerous world-class advanced manufacture clusters; as well as ensuring that the industrial value-added in manufacturing continues to make up roughly one third of its GDP.

In terms of foreign trade and investment, the document sets out the goal that Zhejiang's total imports and exports of goods reaches 4 trillion yuan, as well as that its actual utilization of foreign investment stands at $17 billion in 2025.

As part of its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality, Zhejiang pledges that non-fossil energy utilization as a percentage of primary energy utilization will rise to 24 percent, while the proportion for installed power capacity of coal-fired plants will drop to 42 percent by 2025.

To improve medical services, Zhejiang is aiming for the number of hospital beds per 1,000 citizens will be 7.5 in 2025, up from 5.99 in 2020.