Stick to deepening overall reform, and improve socialist market economy

The city will continue with reform of the socialist market economy, endeavour to balance the relationship between government and markets as a core, give priority to the reform of the economic system, deepen the reform of economic structure, improve institutional building conducive to innovation and development, and stimulate new development vitality. It expects to complete all set targets of reform and basically establish a sound system of socialist market economy by 2020 in a drive to create an institutional support for socialist modernization.

Adheres to an innovation-driven development strategy, and enhance core competitiveness

The city will promote innovation as a driving force for development, accelerate the shift of the growth model, improve its economic structure, harness the leading role of technology in the promotion of innovation, and develop a market-oriented system for production and innovation in key sectors, industries and links, where enterprises are the main players. Moreover, it will continue with institutional building to support mass entrepreneurship and innovation, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into social forces, and create new growth momentum for social and economic development.

Become a key transportation hub in western Guangdong, and enhance its ability to protect energy and hydro power security

The city will follow the principles of making proper arrangements in advance, draft a reasonable plan, stress weighty tasks, maintain coordinated development, increase investment, optimize resource allocation and develop into an important transportation hub and a modernized port city in the western region of Guangdong. It will advance construction of energy and hydro power infrastructure and continuously upgrade and maintain it. By 2020, it is expected to build a modernized infrastructural system with comprehensive functions, safety and high-efficiency, and appropriate arrangements .

Foster main industries as driving forces for development, and establish a modern industrial structure

The city will deepen supply-side structural reform, create leading industries and new growth points, and grow into a national agricultural center with modern characteristics, a world-class base of the petrochemical industry, and a key logistics center of energy in the province. Moreover, it is expected to intensify the development of the modern service industry, strengthen information-driven construction, improve the quality of local products, enhance brand-making capability, establish more industrial structure, and develop into a quality-driven city.

Improve the quality and expand the scale of its downtown area, and become one of the clustered cities on the western coast of Guangdong

The city will implement an eastwards-southwards and sea-driven development strategy, promote the coordinated building of four sub-regions (optimization of the northern region, connection between the central region and surrounding areas, and southwards and eastwards expansion), build itself into sub-central clustered city in western Guangdong, improve the quality and enlarge the scale of its downtown area and county-level cities, increase urban capacity and attraction, and achieve coordinated development. It is expected to steadily enhance its urbanization and raise the ratio of permanent urban residents in its overall population to 45 percent by 2020.

Develop the county-level economy with unique features, and build new type of urbanization

The city will accelerate the development of each county's economy with its own features and expand the scale of county-level industrial scale, comprehensively implement the provincial plans and arrangements on new urbanization, promote the development of a people-centered new type of urbanization, optimize the spatial layout of urban areas, and enhance coordinated development of urban and rural regions.

Consolidate a base for the development of rural areas, farmers and agriculture, and build beautiful villages

The city will step up agricultural modernization, ensure a steady growth of grain production, deepen all-round reform in rural areas, and build local villages known for their beauty. It expects to develop into a national and modern agricultural base with special features, an important city known for modern and ecological agriculture in Guangdong, the logistics center of agricultural products in southern China, the production base of tropical fruits introduced from south Asia, and the production center of vegetables grown in northern China by 2020.

Stick to opening-up, and create a new frontier of mutually beneficial cooperation

The city will grasp the development opportunity brought by the Belt and Road Initiative, expand the level and scale of opening-up, and get closely involved in international, domestic and regional cooperation. It will make great efforts to promote investment through the construction of ports, industrial parks, logistics centers and clusters of commerce, strengthen the cooperation with ASEAN countries and relevant domestic cities in the framework of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, and create a new frontier of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Advance the construction of ecological civilization, and promote green, recyclable and low-carbon development

The city will follow the development path of ecological civilization, integrate ecological civilization with its social and economic growth, accelerate building of main function areas, optimize the framework of territorial space development, prioritize environmental protection, strengthen environmental protection and pollution treatment, step up ecological restoration, and improve its natural ecology. Moreover, it will work hard to raise the level of conservation and efficient use of resources, promote green, recyclable and low-carbon development, advocate low-carbon lifestyles, advance green-oriented models of production, deepen institutional support for ecological civilization, and become reputed for its natural environment.

Remarkable efforts will be made to reach the targets specified by the province regarding energy consumed per unit of its gross domestic product (GDP), total energy consumption, and emission of major pollutants such as ammoniac nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides by 2020.

Take great efforts to develop social affairs, and increase public wellbeing

The city will intensify its efforts to promote employment and entrepreneurship, optimize the pattern of income distribution, improve the basic public service system, strengthen and make innovations in social management, and boost construction of a harmonious socialist society to ensure equal access to basic public service.

Comprehensively advance the rule of law, and create a legal environment with fairness and justice

The city will employ rule-of-law thinking and approaches to promote its development, give full play to the role of law-based governance to lead, regulate and safeguard social and economic growth, accelerate the rule of law, and create a legal guarantee for the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.