China's focus shifts from GDP to quality development: report
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China will give less focus on GDP growth, while shifting it to high quality development for the sake of improving people's livelihoods and sharing the benefits of reform and opening up, according to a newly released blue book, Chinanews.com reported Sunday.

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(Photo: Chinanews.com)

The blue book focusing on China's economic development and system reform was released by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) at the first economic forum on China's reform and opening up in Beijing.

Since the tax reform in 1994, China has maintained a stable tax system, giving full play to both the central and local governments in tax reform, noted the blue book.

The 1994 reform played a positive role in narrowing the gap between regions in China. With deepened reforms, such positive effects will continue, and central and local financial resources will be further balanced, as the report pointed out.

Six measures were introduced for building a modern finance and tax system in China, mainly focusing on flat management reform in government, improving the transfer payment system, and building a modern public budgeting management system and so on, according to the report.

Regarding regional development, China formed an overall strategy in late 1990s, featuring a large-scale development of the western region, helping the central region rise and supporting the eastern region in taking the lead, for the aim of realizing nationwide economic growth.

Facing environmental protection issues and imbalanced development between regions, China continued to improve its regional strategy and mapped out the coordinated regional development strategy, set as one of the seven national strategies in 2017, aiming to bridge the gap of per capita income, people's livelihoods and public services between different regions, said the report.

The coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze Economic Belt and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have made notable progress, and played an exemplary role in promoting regional development.

Over the past four decades of reform and opening up, China's national economy has seen huge changes, and also contributed a lot to the global economic growth, said Zou Dongtao, chief editor of the blue book as well as a former deputy dean of the CASS Graduate School.

It's of significance to summarize experience from the past forty years and explore methods for reform and opening up, Zou added.

(Compiled by Fang Tian)