North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region recently announced its development plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

Over the coming five years, Inner Mongolia will explore a path of high-quality development that prioritizes environmental protection and green development.

Inner Mongolia aims to build itself into an important ecological safety barrier in North China and the security and stability barrier of China's northern borders. It will also strive to become an important national energy and strategic resource base, a national agricultural and livestock-product production base and an important bridgehead for China's opening to the north.

According to the goals outlined by Inner Mongolia, from 2021 to 2025, the region's gross regional product, per capita disposable income of residents and labor productivity of all employees should increase by about 5 percent each year. Also, the autonomous region's R&D expenditures should increase by 12 percent annually.

By 2025, the urbanization rate of the permanent population in Inner Mongolia should reach 66 percent, and the added value of the digital economy's core industries should account for about 2.5 percent of the regional GDP.

Meanwhile, the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people should reach 1.8 pieces and the number of licensed (assistant) physicians per 1,000 people should reach 3.6.

The percentage of residents covered by elderly care insurance should exceed 90 percent, and the life expectancy should increase by six months.

The unemployment rate of urban residents should be controlled at 6 percent.

Additionally, by 2025, the working-age population will have an average of 11 years of formal education, the region's forest coverage rate will reach 23.5 percent, and the reduced energy consumption per unit of GDP and the reduced carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will meet the national requirements.