Party leaders to draft next national five-year plan at Oct. 26-29 meeting

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party announced on Monday that it would hold a meeting to draft China’s next five-year plan from October 26 to 29, South China Morning Post reported, citing state media. While the five-year is a holdover from the country’s Maoist era, it remains a key blueprint that lays out major near-term government goals. The party is expected to approve a draft of the national economic and social development program from 2016 to 2020 during the meeting. The full plan will then be sent to the National People’s Congress for rubber-stamp approval in March, before each region and industry comes up with its own, more detailed plan.