China´s 12th Five-Year Plan was released earlier this month during the annual session of the National People´s Congress, the country´s top legislature. It steers the world´s second largest economy towards a path of fairer and greener growth in the next five years.

According to the plan, China aims to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent in the five years leading up to 2015. The country is also looking to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent during the period. Following are key targets of the draft:

Economic targets
-- GDP to grow by 7 percent annually on average;
-- More than 45 million jobs to be created in urban areas;
-- Urban registered unemployment to be kept no higher than 5 percent;
-- Prices to be kept generally stable.

Economic restructuring
-- Rise in domestic consumption;
-- Breakthrough in emerging strategic industries;
-- Service sector value-added output to account for 47 percent of GDP, up 4 percentage points;
-- Urbanization rate to reach 51.5 percent, up 4 percentage points.

Innovation
-- Expenditure on research and development to account for 2.2 percent GDP;
-- Every 10,000 people to have 3.3 patents.

Environment & clean energy
-- Non-fossil fuel to account for 11.4 percent of primary energy consumption;
-- Water consumption per unit of value-added industrial output to be cut by 30 percent;
-- Energy consumption per unit of GDP to be cut by 16 percent;
-- Carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP to be cut by 17 percent;
-- Forest coverage rate to rise to 21.66 percent and forest stock to increase by 600 million cubic meters;

Agriculture
-- Annual grain production capacity to be no less than 540 million tones;
-- Farmland reserves to be no less than 1.818 billion mu.

Livelihood
-- Population to be no larger than 1.39 billion;
-- Life span per person to increase by one year;
-- Pension schemes to cover all rural residents and 357 million urban residents;
-- Construction and Renovation of 36 million apartments for low-income families;
-- Minimum wage standard to increase by no less than 13 percent on average each year;

Social management
-- Improved public service for both urban and rural residents;
-- Improved democracy and legal system;
-- Better social management system for greater social harmony;
-- More than 10 percent of all residents will be registered as community volunteers.

Reform
-- Encourage qualified enterprises to get listed in stock markets;
-- In-depth reform in monopoly industries for easier market entry and more competition;
-- Improved government efficiency and credibility