The fifth session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress opened on Feb 2 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, with a total of 825 deputies in attendance.

The fifth session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress opens on Feb 2 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/dzwww.com]

Liu Jiayi, Party chief of Shandong, presided over the session and Li Ganjie, governor of the province, delivered the work report of the Shandong Provincial People's Government, which covered a review of the work done in 2020 and during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the main targets and tasks for economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), and key objectives in 2021.

Liu Jiayi, Party chief of Shandong, presides over the session. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/dzwww.com]

According to the report, the province has made unremitting endeavors to uphold the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, focusing on supply-side structural reform, and further reforming and opening up on all fronts over the past five years. The province has also made significant progress in its transition to high-quality development and embracing brighter growth prospects.

Last year, the province intensified efforts to coordinate regular epidemic containment with economic and social development, consolidate achievements in poverty alleviation, strengthen ecological and environmental protection, and promote ethnic unity and progress.

Li Ganjie, governor of Shandong, delivers the government work report at the session. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/dzwww.com]

The province's GDP hit 7.31 trillion yuan (about $1.13 trillion) in 2020, up 3.6 percent year-on-year, as its economy recovered in all respects.

The report also set goals for 2021, the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan, which include increasing regional GDP by at least 6 percent, creating over 1.1 million new urban jobs, and keeping the urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 percent.

A total of 825 deputies attend the fifth session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/dzwww.com]

Deputies to the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress listen to the government work report. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/dzwww.com]

The session will last five days. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/dzwww.com]