Red Boat, the memorial boat of the first National Congress of the CPC Photo: VCG

 
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has issued a work plan on promoting investigation and research work throughout the Party, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.

The announcement, which comes only days after China released a plan on reforming Party and state institutions, is a timely move to study the current statues of key industries and prepare for further reform and development, experts said.

The work plan listed 12 aspects in its main research contents, which covered key areas in promoting science and technology self-reliance, defusing major financial risks, and enhancing food and energy security.

The investigations and surveys will target key issues regarding self-reliance in high-level science and technology, domestic demand expansion, the utilization of foreign investment and promotion of rural revitalization.

It will also target issues in balancing development with security, ensuring the security of food, energy and supply chains, and defusing major economic and financial risks.

The investigation plan will also address poverty alleviation, narrowing the development gap between urban and rural areas, and areas that people are most concerned about such as employment, education, healthcare, childcare, elder care and housing.

The range of research and investigation is broad and covers important issues for the national economy, people's livelihoods, and economic and social development, Wang Peng, a research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

It will provide a clear picture of problems in these key industries and provide a solid reference for further reform and development in relevant areas, whether it is reform of the scientific and technological system or reform of the financial system, as signaled in the plan on reforming Party and state institutions, Wang noted.

A central commission for finance will be established to strengthen the CPC Central Committee's centralized and unified leadership over financial work, according to an institutional reform plan released by the Xinhua News Agency on Thursday.

In addition, a central commission for science and technology will be set up to enhance the CPC Central Committee's centralized and unified leadership over the work of science and technology, the plan said.

Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said that the in-depth investigation and research plan is a timely move to address China’s domestic development challenges and rising external uncertainties.

“Through investigation and research, we can expect more effective work plans to promote economic development, improve people's livelihoods and national security, and better balance domestic and foreign markets, so as to achieve better development and high-quality opening-up,” Dong told the Global Times on Sunday.

The investigations come as China's reform and development face many deep-seated problems and more complex and severe risks, challenges and difficult issues than ever before, according to the investigation work plan.

It is urgent to grasp the nature and law of things through investigation and research, and find ways and paths to solve problems, it said.