The infographic explains the five slogans that are in the next Five-Year Plan, which will be published at next week’s legislative session, and then picks a statistic and graphic that goes with each one. (For reference, the plan urges that China’s development be “innovative,” “coordinated,” “green,” “open,” and “shared.”) Charming stuff, if a bit tame compared to the amazing cartoon video explaining the Five-Year Plan that blew up the internet a while back.

Still, it is lively by the standards of the People’s Daily. Here is what a more normal day at the Communist Party newspaper looks like, from a couple of days ago–a photograph of Xi Jinping meeting a foreign dignitary, reports of government meetings, etc.

The People’s Daily does have a history of, very slowly, adapting conventions of other newspapers. It started printing the front page in color only in 2004, and these days also breaks up its traditional text-heavy layout with a touch more white space. So even before the infographics, this gray lady had already become a bit more bling. Here’s a front page from late 2003, just before the switch to color, which gives you some of the flavor of the proper old-school style: visiting dignitaries and sturdy industrial equipment.

Update. Clearly I should have waited another couple of days to do this post, as Monday’s issue devoted half of its entire front page to a giant infographic on the Five-Year Plan. At this rate, the People’s Daily should be looking like the USA Today of the late 1980s (of We’re Eating More Beets! fame) sometime in the 2020s…