Top-Level Design The Proposal on Developing the 12th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, adopted by the 17th CPC Central Committee at its fifth plenary session on October 18, 2010, introduced the idea of greater focus on designing at the top level and overall planning.The concept has subsequently been embedded in China's reform program and featured in other official documents and meetings of the central leadership. "Top-level design" represents a key element of China's reform efforts. This means it is the central leadership that is responsible for devising a systematic overall plan for the nation's reforms from a strategic perspective, with an aim to better allocating all the resources required and ensuring efifient realization of its goals.