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BEIJING, Aug. 26-- China's development is entering a new stage. This is the latest assessment made by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on the future prospects of the world's second-largest economy as it prepares economic and social development plans for the next five years. The next five-year plan, the 14th in a row, is now very much in the spotlight. The plan period (2021-2025) will mark the first five years of China's new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country and marching toward the second centenary goal, according to Xi, who delivered his comments this week at a symposium with experts on economic and social work. How will China navigate this new stage of development? What will China's economic and social roadmap be in post-epidemic era? Here are some takeaways from the symposium. FORWARD-LOOKING PLANNING Drawn up every five years since 1953, the five-year plan is a major feature of China's governance system, setting growth targets and defining economic and social development policies to ensure national strategies keep pace with the times. At the symposium this week, Xi, reiterating that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, stressed the adoption of a long-term perspective, grasping the trend of the times and extensively pooling wisdom to study new circumstances and make new plans. To reflect the forward-looking vision, when the Communist Party of China Central Committee meets in October to outline the 14th Five-Year Plan, a longer-term vision for 2035 will also be put up for discussion, envisioning a period during which the country's socialist modernization is expected to be basically achieved. | 
