Yiwu, once a small agricultural county in east China's Zhejiang Province with limited resources and weak industry, has now become known as "the world's largest wholesale market for daily commodities." The Yiwu International Trade Market's 75,000 shops are connected to over 2.1 million enterprises, supporting approximately 32 million jobs.

In 2011, the State Council approved the "Yiwu International Trade Comprehensive Reform Pilot" and gave Yiwu's market the autonomy of the first test, bringing Yiwu into a new development stage. As a window into China's reform and opening up and a barometer of global small commodity trade, Yiwu's market has undergone multiple rounds of transformation, evolving from a humble roadside market into a modern international trade hub.

Today, Yiwu has become a vital gateway for Chinese small commodities to reach global markets, serving as a vivid example of high-quality regional economic development.

High-quality development refers to a change from merely seeking growth to seeking better growth and seeking quality over quantity.

In Chinese President Xi Jinping's view, high-quality development addresses people's ever-growing desire for a better life. It reflects the new development philosophy featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, which was put forward by Xi in 2015 at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee.

It underscores the quality of economic and social development, and comprehensively answers the key questions surrounding China's future development, including its purpose, driving force and methods.

With the philosophy charting a development path that fits China's actual situations, the country has made historic achievements and witnessed historic changes in its economic and social development under its guidance over the past decade.

People-centered development

With a strong awareness to balance human and nature, the economy and the society, the economic foundation and the superstructure, efficiency and equity, as well as the present and the future, the philosophy not only offers a guide to high-quality development in China, but also enlightens the global community in addressing development challenges.

Originated from practice, the new development philosophy also guides practice. It emphasizes adhering to the concept of people-centered development, ensuring that the basic living needs of all people are met, and working hard to resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that concern them most.

As living standards rise, public expectations for a better life have evolved, shifting from basic needs to greater emphasis on quality, diversity and convenience.

In response, China has implemented pragmatic public welfare measures to ensure higher-quality lifestyles, better living environments, and enhanced public services for the people.

Nearly 100 million rural poor people have been lifted out of poverty, and the world's largest education system, social security system, and medical and health system have been established, steadily advancing common prosperity.

The country has bolstered its social safety net, with basic pension and medical insurance coverage consistently exceeding 95 percent, effectively safeguarding the population's basic needs.

Regarding employment, China has implemented measures to stabilize the job market, including incentivizing enterprises to retain workers, enhancing job placement services and helping key groups. Notably, the annual urban employment growth consistently surpassed 12 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period.

"We will only have the right view of development and modernization if we follow a people-centered approach, insisting that development is for the people, reliant on the people, and that its fruits should be shared by the people," Xi once said.

Driving high-quality growth

Under the guidance of the philosophy, the country has achieved remarkable results in advancing high-quality development, powered by continuous innovation and a sustained shift toward green growth.

Innovation input has grown significantly. Last year, China's research and development (R&D) spending had increased by nearly 50 percent compared with the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. R&D intensity increased to 2.69 percent, approaching the average level of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, while the country's number of R&D personnel ranked first globally.

Breakthroughs have also emerged across key technological fields. Advancements were achieved in nuclear power, high-speed rail, and marine engineering equipment. In areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, manned spaceflight, and deep-space exploration, China has delivered pioneering breakthroughs, setting multiple global milestones.

With an enormous market of more than 1.4 billion people, China is the world's largest goods trader, a major trading partner of over 140 countries and regions. The country's door of opening up has opened even wider.

China has also achieved notable progress in green development over the past five years. Notably, renewable energy installation has historically surpassed that of thermal power, a landmark shift for a country long reliant on coal.

Today, the country is fostering new quality productive forces adapted to local conditions – a term that features high-tech, high efficiency and high quality, and comes in line with the new development philosophy.

A number of eco-friendly, high-tech projects are burgeoning across the country, fueling the rise of new quality productive forces to create new industries and job opportunities.

"Developing new quality productive forces is an intrinsic requirement and an important focus of promoting high-quality development," Xi once said.

Noting that this year marks the final lap for China's implementation of its 14th Five-Year Plan, Xi called for greater efforts to fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, continuously improve people's livelihood, and lay a solid foundation for getting the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) off to a good start.