The 13th Foshan Municipal Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) kicked off on Nov 27, announcing the city's development plans for the next five years.

Foshan will seek to make rapid progress in innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and shared development, and take the lead in business environment institutional reform, science and technology system and mechanism reform, modern enterprise system reform, coordinated development of urban and rural areas, environmental system management, green and clean production, integration into the new development model, preserving Lingnan culture, and improving grassroots social governance.

Foshan will commit to building a modern industrial system by fostering competitive hubs for sci-tech innovation, including the Foshan National Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Foshan Central Talent & Innovation Lighthouse Industrial Park and Foshan Sanlong Bay Sci-tech City and sci-tech innovation platforms such as Jihua Lab and Foshan Xianhu Laboratory.

The 13th CPC Foshan Municipal Congress kicks off on Nov 27. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It will also optimize its industrial layout to accelerate the development of industrial clusters and seek to improve manufacturing, product quality, structure, vocational skills and industrial carriers. In addition, priority will be given to manufacturing services. With professional, standardized and name-brand producer services, Foshan, a leading manufacturing city, will play a more important role in the national and global markets.

Foshan must enhance its quality in urbanization. By outlining the 2035 Master Plan for Territorial Space in Foshan, it aims to optimize the framework of production, living and ecological zones. It will pilot comprehensive measures in all districts, build a better public transportation system and carry out projects focusing on green coverage, cityscape, city lighting and clean energy. With more intense efforts on intelligent and precise management in rural and urban areas, both the living environment in rural areas and urban agriculture will be improved to remodel the rural-urban layout.

Foshan will stay committed to ecological civilization, with focuses on peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. To this end, Foshan seeks green, low-carbon and sustainable development in manufacturing, transportation, architecture and services. By stepping up controls on vehicle exhaust, fine particulate matter and ozone pollution, as well as measures on the disposal and integrated recycling of solid waste, it will become home to a more modern urban waste management system, thus becoming a more eco-friendly garden city with lucid waters and lush mountains.

Foshan will try to build itself into a civilized and friendly city that sets a strong example for all of China.

Foshan will follow the path of shared prosperity by carrying out 10 projects that affect people's well-being, including cutting expenses related to child-rearing and improving elementary education, incomes, elderly care, housing, parking, health, food safety and social aid.