China’s 15th five-year plan underscores digital intelligence, high-quality population development: expert

China released the outline of its 15th Five-Year Plan on Friday, highlighting digital intelligence development and high-quality population development as vital drivers of economic and social progress.

Including dedicated sections on the two themes, the plan calls for greater efforts to facilitate AI applications and establish life cycle care to safeguard the people's right to development.

Compared with the 14th Five-Year Plan, which focused on accelerating digitalization, the new concept of "digital intelligence development" places greater emphasis on the integration of artificial intelligence with the real economy, according to a macro economy expert.

"While the previous five-year plan caught the wave of digitalization, the new plan is embracing a new wave. As we all know, the new round of science and technology revolution, featuring the rapid development of AI, is thriving. The 15th five-year plan elaborates in a separate chapter how China can respond to the new trend of science and technology and industrial development. Compared with the previous plan, which emphasized 'digital economy,' the new plan highlights 'new intelligent economic forms,' which requires AI to be integrated into all aspects of economic development and to better empower growth. This will be an important direction for the future," said Dong Yu, Executive Deputy Director of the China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University.

The plan also places new emphasis on high-quality population development, dedicating a separate section to supporting policies throughout the life cycle of its citizens based on China's long-term demographic trends.

"The role of human factors in China's development is becoming increasingly prominent. Economic work now places greater emphasis on combining investment in physical assets with investment in people. By dedicating a separate chapter to population issues, the plan is not focusing solely on birth rates. More importantly, it aims to build a full-chain support system covering needs from birth to growth to elderly care. The tasks laid out in the plan will match these needs, ensuring that the principle of putting people first is reflected across every stage of human development," said Dong.

China’s 15th five-year plan underscores digital intelligence, high-quality population development: expert

China’s 15th five-year plan underscores digital intelligence, high-quality population development

Ballet "A Dream of the Red Mansion", an original production by the National Ballet of China, took the stage in Singapore this week, bringing one of China's most famous literary works to Singaporean audiences.

Performed at the Esplanade from Thursday to Sunday, the show was supported by the Chinese Embassy in Singapore and organized by the China Enterprises Association (Singapore). It follows a tour in Bangkok, Thailand, marking the troupe's second overseas stop.

The ballet tells the story of Jia Baoyu through the language of choreography, delving into his innermost emotions and weaving together iconic scenes from the classic novel by Chinese writer Cao Xueqin to depict the grandeur and decline of the Grand View Garden.

Chinese Ambassador Cao Zhongming said the ballet interprets classic literature from the contemporary perspective, and blends classical ballet vocabulary with Chinese choreographic aesthetics, showing that the Chinese culture is both historical and contemporary, belonging to the Chinese nation and to the whole world as well.

Chinese ballet "A Dream of the Red Mansion" debuts in Singapore