China still has a growth target for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, though the official documents released after the conclusion of the Fifth Plenum of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee don't mention that, says Yao Yang, dean of the National School of Development, Peking University.

To realize the goal of doubling GDP and per capita income by 2035, China needs to achieve an annual growth rate of about 5 percent in the years ahead, says Yao, a Cheung-Kong scholar, in an interview with China Daily.

Especially, he emphasizes the role of the "dual circulation" development pattern in facilitating growth in the next five years, adding that cooperation and opening-up are important to innovation.