Storyline: China has achieved innovation-driven development and maintained high competitiveness in the manufacturing sector in its pursuit of high-quality growth over the past five years, said Bert Hofman, former World Bank's country director for China, who expected that the service industry would be a key focus in the country's planning for the next five years. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China's GDP rose from 103.5 trillion yuan (14.53 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2020 to 134.9 trillion yuan (18.94 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, significantly higher than the global average of 3.9 percent over the same period. Hofman highlighted China's high-quality growth in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday -- one day after the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened a plenary session in Beijing, which will deliberate the formulation of a new five-year plan for China's national economic and social development in the 2026-2030 period. "China has been doing relatively well. They've maintained a relatively high pace of growth, which is going to be around 5 percent. It was not a target in the 14th Five-Year Plan, but they came out quite reasonably well. I think that persisted quite well in pursuing what is called high quality growth, the overarching long term goal of China's economy by shifting more resources to innovation, by getting more productivity out of those innovations, also maintaining high competitiveness in manufacturing," he said. With investment levels still high, Hofman said he believes the services sector will play a central role in driving future growth and job creation, a key focus for the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). "I think for China, where investment overall is still quite high, I do believe they need to look at new engines of growth. The other driver is undoubtedly going to be the services sector. If you look at countries at China's development level, growth, employment and jobs will come from services. And that would be, I think, one of the key focuses of the next Five-Year Plan," said Hofman. The 20th CPC Central Committee started its fourth plenary session in Beijing on Monday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a work report on behalf of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and expounded on the Party leadership's draft proposals for the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan for national economic and social development. China has had 14 five-year plans which was first introduced in 1953. From 1978 to 2024, China's GDP grew at an average annual rate of 8.8 percent. China's per capita GDP has surpassed 13,000 U.S. dollars in 2024. The country has been listed in the Top 10 of the Global Innovation Index. Shotlist: FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown: 1. Aerial shots of traffic Jarkata, Indonesia - Oct 21, 2025: 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Bert Hofman, former World Bank's country director for China (ending with shots 3-9): "China has been doing relatively well. They've maintained a relatively high pace of growth, which is going to be around 5 percent. It was not a target in the 14th Five-Year Plan, but they came out quite reasonably well. I think that persisted quite well in pursuing what is called high quality growth, the overarching long term goal of China's economy by shifting more resources to innovation, by getting more productivity out of those innovations, also maintaining high competitiveness in manufacturing." FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown: 3. Aerial shot of factory 4. Various of production line, machines in operation 5. Various of high-tech manufacturing line, workers, machines in operation 6. Various of chips being designed, made 7. Various of production line, machines in operation 8. Aerial shot of boat, bridge 9. Various of train running on bridge Jarkata, Indonesia - Oct 21, 2025: 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Bert Hofman, former World Bank's country director for China (partially overlaid with shots 11-13): "I think for China, where investment overall is still quite high, I do believe they need to look at new engines of growth. The other driver is undoubtedly going to be the services sector. If you look at countries at China's development level, growth, employment and jobs will come from services. And that would be, I think, one of the key focuses of the next Five-Year Plan." [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown: 11. Consumers at shopping mall 12. Consumers at smart phone store FILE: Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, southwest China - July 2025" 13. Various of tourists taking photos [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown: 14. Aerial shot of city view. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]