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The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee met on Monday to review a report on public consultations on a CPC document concerning the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan  (2021-25) for Economic and Social Development, and targets for 2035.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The document, after being revised based on opinions raised at the meeting, will be submitted for deliberation at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee to be held in Beijing from October 26 to 29, according to a decision made at the Monday meeting.

The 14th Five-Year Plan is now very much in the spotlight, as the period will mark the first five years of China's journey toward fully building a modern socialist country, and will build a solid foundation to achieve the strategic goal.

The plan is a critical one at a critical time, Cao Heping, an economics professor at Peking University, told the Global Times on Monday. "We should be aware of the severe external and domestic challenges, and stay strategically focused to strive for innovation-driven development," he said.

"The next five years will see tremendous historical changes," Lin Yifu, honorary dean of the National School of Development at Peking University, was quoted as saying in media reports. Whatever the international and domestic situation will be, China will become a high-income country with an average income exceeding the $12,700 threshold, if we can remain focused on our strategy and put our growth potential into full play, Lin noted.

Lin predicted that China's GDP will surpass that of the US by 2030, based on exchange rates, and could be twice the US' by 2050.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, geopolitical uncertainty would be a major challenge, as diplomatic tensions between China and the US would remain, and the global pandemic will probably affect foreign investment and trade, especially in 2021 and 2022, said Zhu Lijia, a professor of public management at the Chinese Academy of Governance.

President Xi recently stressed that China will accelerate the formation of a new "dual circulation" development pattern, in which the domestic economic cycle plays a leading role, while the international economic cycle remains its extension and supplement.

Zhu said focusing on the domestic market, based on a huge market and one of the world's industrial advantages, not only adds impetus to China's economic growth but also drives the world economic recovery amid the pandemic and the challenge of protectionism.

China will continue to promote opening-up to work together with other economies, to restore normal global trade at a time when the US advocates protectionism and unilateralism. "China will give equal importance to the global community's social welfare and health," Cao said.

It's worth noting that a 15-year "long-term vision" was mentioned along with the 14th Five-Year Plan this year, aimed at 2035 when the country's socialist modernization is expected to be achieved.

The long-term vision is a sign of China's institutional advantage that helps ensure coherence and strength of its policies, thus offering a stable and safe environment for domestic and foreign investors, experts say.