The National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are about to be held. Every year, the government work report released during the two sessions will make a deployment around the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", which is short in length but significant. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Vision and Action to Promote the Joint Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. What new measures will be taken to jointly build the "the Belt and Road"? Wan Zhe, a professor of Beijing Normal University and a researcher of the the Belt and Road Institute, said in an interview with china.com.cn that the "five links" construction of the "the Belt and Road" will continue to deepen and consolidate cooperation this year. For example, in terms of infrastructure connectivity, we will continue to enhance the sustainability of infrastructure construction; In terms of smooth trade, we will continue to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, strengthen multilateral and bilateral cooperation, expand the global trade cooperation network, and improve quality and quantity; In terms of funding, we will promote cooperation among national financial institutions to provide more secure and risk controlled financial support for projects. She also said that the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" this year will expand more cooperation space in green transformation, digital economy, health and other aspects, bridge the "digital divide" under the tide of global scientific and technological innovation, coordinate and promote major landmark projects and "small and beautiful" livelihood projects, and achieve more sustainable and win-win development. She stressed that this year, we will focus on promoting the construction of the high-quality "the Belt and Road" mechanism, promoting systematization and institutionalization, deepening practical cooperation, and helping high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" to achieve stability and long-term development. The main goals and tasks for economic and social development this year will also be clearly stated in the government work report, with the most closely watched being the GDP growth rate target. Wan Zhe stated that the target GDP growth rate for this year is still likely to be set at around 5%. On the one hand, it is based on the weighted average of the development goals announced by the provincial two sessions, and on the other hand, it is combined with the 2035 long-term goals. "By 2035, China's per capita GDP will reach the level of moderately developed countries. It is estimated that from 2021 to 2035, the average annual growth rate will reach 4.73%. Because China's economic aggregate is getting larger and larger, and the growth target rate is likely to be high from beginning to end, it is more likely that the GDP growth target in 2025 will still be around 5%; if slightly conservative, it will be between 4.8% and 5%." To achieve the economic growth target, consumption is an important starting point. Since the Spring Festival this year, driven by the expansion of the "two new" policies, residents' enthusiasm for consumption has surged. According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission, during the Spring Festival period (January 28 February 4, 2025), the sales volume of digital products such as automobiles, home appliances, and mobile phones that were exchanged for new reached 8.6 million units (sets), with sales exceeding 31 billion yuan. The sales revenue of home appliances and mobile phones increased significantly by about 166% and 182% year-on-year. How will the next stage of policies continue to promote consumption? Wan Zhe suggests continuing to expand and optimize subsidy policies, such as expanding the subsidy scope to service consumption areas with good long tail effects, such as education and healthcare; Promote differentiated consumption subsidies, tilt towards the central and western regions and rural areas, and narrow the regional consumption gap; Optimize the subsidy application process to avoid diminishing marginal effects; Create new consumption scenarios, new formats, new hotspots, and new experiences; Create a favorable consumption environment, promote service upgrades, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. However, Wan Zhe emphasized that the most fundamental measure to promote consumption is to increase residents' income, that is, to make efforts in stabilizing employment, ensuring that residents have stable sources of income, and stable expectations for future income. Since the beginning of this year, new artificial intelligence technologies represented by DeepSeek have become popular and attracted widespread attention. Wan Zhe believes that the promotion and application of artificial intelligence is conducive to promoting economic transformation and upgrading, giving birth to emerging formats and business models, and creating new growth points; Improve resource utilization efficiency and optimize employment structure; Promote the optimization of resource allocation and drive capital flow towards the field of technological innovation; Lowering the threshold for innovation and enhancing international competitiveness. This year marks the end of the 14th Five Year Plan and the year of planning and layout for the 15th Five Year Plan. The '15th Five Year Plan' is closer to the 2035 long-term goal, and there should be a clearer understanding and more comprehensive deployment of medium - and long-term challenges. Wan Zhe suggested that the '15th Five Year Plan' should have relevant deployments in areas such as population, climate change, traditional industry transformation, a unified national market, scientific and technological innovation mechanisms, and talent education. (New Society)