This year marks the final year of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period (2021-2025). On October 15, the Information Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government held the first press conference of the series on Hunan's achievements during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period in Changsha. It showcased the achievements of Hunan's economic and social development since 2021.

Crossing the 5 Trillion CNY Threshold, with Five-year Growth Expected to Exceed 1.2 Trillion CNY

"Over the past five years, Hunan has secured all-round and historic accomplishments in economic and social development. The beautiful blueprint of 'Three Hubs and Four New Missions' Strategy is gradually turning into a vivid reality," said Huang Donghong, director of the Development and Reform Commission of Hunan Province at the press conference.

The 14th Five-Year Plan period has been one intertwined with various risks and challenges. Hunan has responded effectively to changes in the internal and external development situation and the test of multiple pressures, focused on tending to its own priorities, and made solid strides in high-quality development.

Hunan has achieved a leap in its comprehensive strength. In 2023, the province's gross domestic product (GDP) crossed the 5 trillion CNY threshold, and reached 5.32 trillion CNY in 2024. It is expected to grow by about 5.5% this year, and the five-year growth is expected to exceed 1.2 trillion CNY. Huang Donghong said that such steady development did not come easily, and Hunan has lived up to its responsibility as a major economic province in playing a leading role.

Industry is the foundation and lifeblood of Hunan's economic development. Over the past five years, Hunan has made every effort to build the "4×4" modern industrial system and implemented a key industry doubling plan. From 2021 to 2024, the added value of industrial enterprises above a designated size by an average of 7.0% annually, 1.1 percentage points higher than the national average. The manufacturing industry has firmly stabilized the overall economic landscape, accounting for 26.7% of GDP.

Domestic demand is the main driving force and stabilizer of Hunan's economic development. Since the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Hunan has worked vigorously to expand profitable investment and focused on stimulating potential consumption. It is estimated that the five-year fixed asset investment and total retail sales of consumer goods will each exceed 10 trillion CNY. The province's contribution rates of investment and consumption to economic growth are both higher than the national average.

Looking back at the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the province's per capita GDP broke through the 10,000 USD mark in 2021, and reached 11,400 USD in 2024. Hunan has secured its position at an upper-middle income level and is steadily advancing toward a high-income economy.

"Three Hubs" Sees Landmark Breakthroughs as Development Quality and Efficiency Rise

In 2020, during the critical period of planning the "14th Five-Year Plan", President Xi Jinping visited Hunan for inspection and drew the beautiful blueprint of "Three Hubs and Four New Missions" Strategy for Hunan.

Following the direction guided by General Secretary Xi Jinping, over the past five years, Hunan has made every effort to develop itself into a national hub for important and advanced manufacturing industries, a sci-tech and innovation center with core competitiveness, and a pacesetter for reform and the opening-up of China's inland regions, achieving landmark breakthroughs in "Three Hubs" construction.

Hunan's manufacturing foundation is getting stronger. It has formed five national advanced manufacturing clusters, ranking fifth in the country and first in the central part of China in terms of number. Five of the world's top 50 construction machinery enterprises are located in Hunan. Nine out of every 10 small and medium-sized aero-engines produced in China are Made in Hunan. The global market share of Hunan's electric locomotives, UHV transformers, and reactors all ranks first, and the output of new energy vehicles has jumped to fifth in the country.

Hunan is accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces. The added value of high-tech industries has exceeded one trillion CNY, and corporate R&D investment has exceeded 100 billion CNY. In the first four years, the average growth rate of the added value of large-scale industries in Hunan reached 7%, and the profit of large-scale industries increased by more than 8% annually. The profit growth is 1.1 percentage points faster than the added value growth, meaning enterprises have expanded scale and made profits at the same time.

Scientific and technological innovation supports the "solid foundation". The total number of national key laboratories in Hunan and their proportion in China have both achieved improvement. The initiative to build Changsha into a global R&D center and the Xiangjiang Science Town project have both gained strong momentum. The "4+4 Sci-Tech Innovation Project" has obtained more than 100 major innovation achievements.

The opening-up scale keeps expanding. Hunan has successfully held four consecutive sessions of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, built the Pioneering Zone for In-depth China-Africa Cooperation with high quality, and maintained the first place in central and western China in terms of trade scale with Africa. Hunan has opened five major international trade channels, and its economic and trade "circle of friends" has expanded to 235 countries and regions.

"Hunan has laid foundation in the first year, achieved breakthroughs in three years, and reached a new level in five years," said Li Chunqiu, director of the Financial and Economic Office of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and deputy director of the Development and Reform Commission of Hunan Province. He stated that since the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Hunan has pursued the goal of building the "Three Hubs" and rolled out 11 landmark projects under the "3+5+3" framework, and further improved the quality and efficiency of development.

Currently, Hunan has been actively participating in the major national strategies, and has closer ties and deeper cooperation with provinces in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta, Chengdu-Chongqing region, Hainan and other regions. Looking across the province, the four major plates of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan, Dongting Lake, Southern Hunan, and Western Hunan have achieved coordinated development, and regional development has become more balanced.

Addressing People's Urgent Needs and Concerns, Enhancing Their Sense of Gain

To achieve a successful conclusion of the "14th Five-Year Plan", people's livelihood is an important foothold.

"Over the past five years, we have always adhered to the people-centered development philosophy and focused on solving the urgent, difficult and anxious problems of the people," said Lai Xinzheng, member of the CPC Leadership Group of the Development and Reform Commission of Hunan Province and director of the Center for Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Integration of Hunan Province. The achievements of Hunan's economic development have been genuinely transformed into the people's sense of gain.

To support the elderly and young children, all newly built urban communities in Hunan are equipped with elderly care facilities. By the end of 2024, 272,300 childcare slots had been created, 3.75 times the number at the end of the "13th Five-Year Plan" period.

To enable everyone to enjoy equitable and high-quality education, Hunan has built 101 Furong Schools and 100 "Xu Teli Project" schools, adding 146,000 high-quality compulsory education places and 66,000 high school places respectively. The compulsory education consolidation rate remains above 98%.

To solve people's difficulties in accessing medical services and high medical costs, Hunan has deepened the integrated reform of reform of medical care, medical insurance and pharmaceutical industry. It has built 142 county-level medical communities. The basic medical insurance participation rate has remained stable at over 95%. The per capita life expectancy has increased by more than one year compared with 2020.

Employment is the biggest livelihood issue. Hunan has implemented five major campaigns of quality employment for college graduates, transfer employment for migrant workers, stable employment for people lifted out of poverty, resettlement employment for retired fishermen, and employment support for people in need. From 2021 to the first half of this year, the cumulative newly added urban employment in the province has exceeded 3.5 million. In 2024, the per capita disposable income was 37,679 yuan, ranking first in central China.

Focusing on people's livelihood needs, urgencies and expectations, Hunan has promoted breakthroughs in reforms in key areas, continuously increased investment, and constantly improved major infrastructure such as transportation, energy, water conservancy, and information. Currently, Changsha's "four-hour aviation economic circle" and Hunan's "two-hour high-speed rail circle" and "four-hour expressway circle" have basically taken shape. Hunan has achieved "high-speed rail linking all prefecture-level cities" and "expressway access to all counties".

Not only is life more convenient, but the environment is also more livable. Over the past five years, Hunan has coordinated the promotion of pollution prevention, ecological restoration and green transformation. The excellent water quality rate of state-controlled water sections with good quality surface water ranks first in central China. The total phosphorus concentration in Dongting Lake has decreased by 6.7%, and the number of finless porpoises in Dongting Lake has increased by nearly 50%, making "Beautiful Hunan" a reality.

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn