China's closely watched fifth plenum of the Communist Party's current central committee last week was significant not just for the new plan that will chart the course of the country's economic and social development over the next five years. It also gave a vision of where the world's second-largest economy wants to be 15 years from now in 2035, something that was last done in 1995. This being the second term of President Xi Jinping, and with his two immediate predecessors having served only two terms, the fifth plenary session should also have confirmed his successor. The fifth plenum of the 17th central committee in 2010 had confirmed him as then President Hu Jintao's successor by making him vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission. No such move was made last week, giving credence to the view that Mr Xi intends to stay on as leader of the party and state when his current terms of office for both end in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

But the centrepiece of this plenum was the 14th Five-Year National Economic and Social Development Plan, together with the 2035 Long-Term Goals. While the full text was just published on Tuesday and has yet to be dissected, what came out in the communique gave much food for thought. First off, while there was no growth target given, there's the hint of one in the expressed goal of raising per capita gross domestic product (GDP) to match the level of moderately developed countries by 2035. This would require the doubling of per capita GDP - which surpassed US$10,000 (S$13,600) last year - to US$20,000 in 2035, which means pursuing high growth is still important. Some economists project an annual growth target range of 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent for the next five years.