I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here’s what I’m watching: The Fifth Plenum of the 19th CPC National Congress, its agenda and impact. Foreigners wonder how China is thinking, where China is going? Party plenums are clues. Party plenums are formal meetings of the Central Committee, the highest level “Congress”, as it were, of the ruling Communist Party of China, attended by more than 300 full and alternate members. 我是罗伯特•劳伦斯•库恩，我正在关注的是：中国共产党第十九届中央委员会第五次全体会议的议程及影响。全球都在关注：中国将如何规划未来？前进的方向在哪里？中共中央全会往往能够给出这些问题的线索。中共中央全会是中国共产党全国代表大会产生的最高领导机关中央委员会召开的正式会议，共有300多名中央委员及候补委员参加全会。 The Fifth Plenum marks an inflection point between China’s two centenary goals: the first, the moderate prosperous society, achieved this year, 2020, highlighted by the elimination of all extreme poverty. The Fifth Plenum rolls out a framework of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, 2021 to 2025, the first five-year plan of economic and social development looking ahead 30 years to China 2050. The 14th Five-Year Plan is deemed critical, given decreasing international trade such that demand for Chinese goods is less, and a volatile global environment such that sensitivity to China’s rise is more, thus preparing the country for economic challenges at home and growing hostilities abroad. 本次五中全会是中国两个百年奋斗目标间的转折点：第一个百年奋斗目标——2020年全面建成小康社会，重点是全面消除极端贫困。五中全会上将研究制定经济社会发展第十四个五年规划(2021至2025年)，也是首次着眼30年后2050年的五年规划。“十四五”规划至关重要，特别是当前全球贸易疲软，中国产品出口动力不足，国际环境动荡，对于中国的崛起日益敏感，面对国内经济挑战和国外日益增长的敌意，中国都需要妥善应对。 The focus will be on what President Xi Jinping has called the “Double Development Dynamics” strategy, rebalancing toward China’s domestic market - according to leadership, to “facilitate better connectivity between domestic and foreign markets for more resilient and sustainable growth”.本次全会的焦点将集中在习近平主席提出的“双循环”战略上，据官方报道，“双循环”旨在通过发挥内需潜力，“使国内市场和国际市场更好联通，实现更加强劲可持续的发展”。 Essential is high-quality growth and self-sufficiency in science and technology – hi-tech independence – especially the design and manufacturing of semiconductor chips, which undergird all the frontier technologies: artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, supercomputing, quantum computing, even smartphones. Other technologies include renewables, material science, new energy vehicles, biotechnology, and space science. 高质量增长和科学技术领域的自给自足至关重要。高科技独立自主，特别是半导体芯片的独立设计和生产，这关乎所有前沿技术，如人工智能(AI)、5G、超级计算、量子计算甚至智能手机。其他技术领域包括可再生能源、材料科学、新能源汽车、生物科技和太空科学。 The plenum will also present a midterm economic strategy called “2035 vision”, the half-way mark to China 2050, when China intends to become a fully modernized, socialist nation and a great power in the world, particularly in science and technology and in defense. This implements what Xi stated at the 19th CPC National Congress in late 2017: China will “basically” realize socialist modernization by 2035. According to a recent Politburo announcement, “We must seek development that has higher quality, higher efficiency, higher fairness, higher sustainability and higher safety. We must seek a synthesis of scale, speed, quality, efficiency and safety.” 本次五中全会还将制定中期经济战略“2035远景目标”。2035年是目前到2050年的中间点，中国提出在本世纪中叶全面建成社会主义现代化强国和成为世界强国，特别是在增强科技实力和国防实力领域。习总书记曾在2017年底召开的十九大中提出：到2035年基本实现社会主义现代化。最近召开的中共中央政治局会议指出，“必须实现更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续、更为安全的发展。实现发展规模、速度、质量、效益、安全相统一”。 There are cautions. China’s race for self-sufficiency in semiconductor chips, supplying vast funding, can entice non-expert companies, with the all-too predictable failures and wastes. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission asserted that companies with no experience, no technology, and no talent should stop blindly rushing into the industry.仍然有一些风险。中国在半导体芯片领域的探索，在大量资金支持下，会招致不专业的公司一窝蜂加入，极易造成失败和资源浪费。最近，中国国家发展和改革委员会强调，无经验、无技术、无人才的“三无”企业不要盲目进入半导体行业。 Advancing science and technology should be a global good in that all humanity benefits, no matter the country of origin — the Covid-19 vaccine being a prime example. The challenge for China in presenting its 14th Five-Year Plan, founded on science and technology, is to show the world why all should root for, not against, its success. I’m keeping watch. I’m Robert Lawrence Kuhn.科技进步使全人类获益，无论源头在哪理应得到国际支持。新冠疫苗就是一个很好的例子。中国面临的挑战是，立足科技的“十四五”规划如何争取支持，而非招致敌意。我将持续观察。我是罗伯特•劳伦斯•库恩。