Opinion

No one should be left behind on the path to common prosperity

As China pursues its modernization goals, the principle that ''no one should be left behind on the path to common prosperity'' has emerged as a guiding vision for policymakers, reflecting the Communist Party of China's longstanding commitment to enriching all citizens. The vision encompasses three interconnected dimensions: creating an environment where everyone can participate in development, ensuring equal access to development opportunities, and guaranteeing that all citizens share in the fruits of progress. The ultimate goal is to make prosperity visible, tangible, and attainable for every individual.

Development takes center stage as foundation for prosperity. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China's GDP reached a new milestone of over 140 trillion yuan, registering an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent. Per capita disposable income grew by 5.4 percent annually, and over 1.07 billion people were covered by basic pension insurance. These achievements have not only built material wealth but also created a fairer social security system and met growing spiritual and cultural needs, safeguarding the well-being of all citizens.

Income distribution is identified as a key link for advancing common prosperity. On one front, efforts are underway to remove barriers to income growth for key groups and broaden income sources for middle-income earners. On another, authorities are working to identify the reserve forces for middle-income expansion, including skilled personnel, researchers, small business founders, skilled farmers, and those in new forms of employment, and formulate differentiated income growth support policies to help more low-income individuals transition into the middle-income bracket.

Institutional innovation provides long-term backing. The continuous improvement of the social security system represents concrete action toward solidly advancing common prosperity. This year's government work report introduced policies supporting flexible and new forms of employment personnel in participating in employee insurance, marking an important step toward institutional equity. It also called for implementing a long-term care insurance system to strengthen care and support for disabled and elderly individuals living alone. It is expected that such institutional arrangements will continue to emerge, providing robust safeguards for the common prosperity journey.

Policy

1.This year's government work report calls for a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by around 3.8 percent. The carefully calibrated target reflects a comprehensive consideration of economic development needs, green transition imperatives, and national energy security—setting the stage for meeting China's 2030 carbon peaking commitment.

2.This year's government work report has unveiled a novel policy initiative aimed at stimulating economic growth: a 100 billion yuan special fund designed to coordinate fiscal and financial resources in support of domestic demand. By combining loan subsidies, financing guarantees, and risk compensation mechanisms, the fund aims to unlock consumption potential and spur investment activity across key sectors.

Data

1. Data released by the National Energy Administration show that in 2025, China's consumption of non-fossil energy increased by approximately 160 million tons of standard coal compared with the previous year, accounting for 30 percent of the increase in China's non-fossil energy consumption during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

2. According to statistics from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, museums across the country received 89.5112 million visitors, an increase of 19.3385 million compared with the Spring Festival holiday in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 27.6 percent, hitting a record high.

3. Sun Yeli, Minister of Culture and Tourism, said at a press conference on people's livelihoods during the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 7 that the number of inbound tourists to China in 2025 exceeded 150 million, a year-on-year increase of more than 17 percent, with spending exceeding 130 billion U.S. dollars. Among them, more than 30 million foreigners entered China visa-free. In 2025, inbound tourists spent approximately 80 billion yuan using mobile payments.

4. Liu Wei, Minister of Transport, said on March 9 at the second "Ministerial Corridor" of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress that currently every day, about 30 million small passenger vehicles travel on expressways across the country, high-speed railways send about 10 million passengers, and civil aviation transports more than 2 million passengers. The country collects an average of about 550 million parcels per day, and each person receives an average of three parcels per week.

5. As of the end of February this year, China has taken the lead in formulating and releasing 61 international standards in fields such as robotics, information technology, biotechnology, and traditional Chinese medicine. As of now, China has cumulatively taken the lead in formulating and releasing 2,182 international standards.

6. At the media briefing for the 2026 Global Developer Pioneers Summit, an artificial intelligence event for global developers to communicate, collaborate and innovate, a relevant official from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization introduced that the scale of Shanghai's artificial intelligence industry in 2025 was about 630 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.5 percent. As of February 28, a cumulative total of 149 artificial intelligence services had been filed.

7. Data released by the China Futures Association show that from January to February, the cumulative trading volume of the national futures market was 1.415 billion lots, and the cumulative trading turnover was 155.85 trillion yuan, year-on-year increases of 26.91 percent and 55.18 percent, respectively. The growth was mainly concentrated in futures varieties such as new energy metals and some agricultural products.

8. Statistics from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange show that as of the end of February 2026, China's foreign exchange reserve scale was 3,427.8 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 28.7 billion U.S. dollars from the end of January, an increase of 0.85 percent.

9. Since 2026, the Chinese film market has maintained a strong growth trend. The current annual box office is close to 11 billion yuan, equivalent to nearly 1.6 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for more than 28 percent of the global film market and surpassing the North American market by about 337 million U.S. dollars, continuing to lead the global film market.

10. According to the three categories of urbanization areas, major agricultural production areas, and key ecological function areas, China has clarified the main functional positioning of more than 2,800 county-level administrative regions. At the same time, about 92 percent of towns and townships have clarified their main functional positioning.

(Source: Economic Daily)