How China is Preparing a Positive Start for the Next Five-Year Plan

Beijing, (ANTARA/PRNewswire) - As China’s annual parliament session begins, CGTN published an article analysing major working agendas for the coming year and the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030). The piece highlights a positive start for China in 2026 that could create new opportunities for the world while boosting confidence in the global economy. The Two Sessions hold significance as they mark the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan’s implementation. On Thursday morning, the 14th National People’s Congress opened its fourth session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, a day after the country’s top political advisory body began its annual session. In the government work report delivered at the NPC opening, Premier Li Qiang stated that China targets economic growth of around 4.5-5% in 2026, with efforts to achieve better results in practice. “The conditions underpinning China’s long-term growth remain unchanged,” Li said. “It is increasingly clear that China demonstrates the advantages of its system and the strength of a major country.” He also called for maximising those advantages while addressing challenges, including rising geopolitical tensions, weak global growth, and shocks to multilateralism and free trade, to unlock more promising development prospects. Positive Start Thanks to Long-Term Planning: Entering the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), China’s strategic goal remains the same: to build a modern socialist country, supported by achievements in the past five years, especially last year. In 2025, despite external pressures, China’s economy remained resilient with a year-on-year GDP growth of 5% and notable progress in various sectors of the economy and society. The government work report also notes important advances in science and technology, including China’s leadership in research, development, and application of artificial intelligence (AI), biomedicine, robotics, and quantum technology. Total economic output in 2025 also hit a new record, surpassing RMB 140 trillion (about USD 20.22 trillion) for the first time, in line with the Repelita 14 targets (2021-2025). Over the five-year period, China’s economy achieved a new height with an average annual GDP growth of 5.4%, well above the global average, according to the government work report. The report also highlights breakthroughs in technology and industrial innovation. National expenditure on R&D rose with an average annual growth of around 10% over the past five years. The Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank, noted in a January report that China’s edge in technology innovation has been strengthened by “centralised coordination,” reflecting the benefits of long-term planning. “Beijing treats AI as infrastructure,” the organisation wrote. “Through central-level industry policy and a strong integration between design and production, China rapidly applies AI across sectors such as manufacturing, ports, power grids, hospitals, and consumer products.” Boosting Confidence and Opportunities for the World: Globally, China’s 5% growth in 2025 is estimated to contribute around 30% to global economic growth. As the world’s second-largest economy, China accounts for about one-sixth of total global GDP and is a major trading partner for more than 150 countries and regions. Amid global uncertainty and a tendency toward short-termism, the draft of the 15th Five-Year Plan was submitted to the NPC for review, offering strategic credibility and consistency rarely seen. Over the next five years, China targets maintaining GDP growth within a reasonable range. This will be a crucial foundation for achieving the goal of doubling China’s GDP per capita from 2020 by 2035, reaching the level of a moderately developed country. To ensure the implementation of the objectives and tasks in the 15th Five-Year Plan, China proposes 109 major projects across six key areas, ranging from building high-quality productive forces to improving people’s welfare. To deepen integration with the global economy, China also commits to expanding an open-door policy in the economy, stabilising foreign trade and upgrading its structure, expanding two-way investment cooperation, and promoting high-quality development under the Belt and Road Initiative. The report also states that China will widen market access and open more sectors, particularly the services sector. The country will continue to participate actively in WTO reforms and maintain and develop an open global economy. Geostrategy analyst Imran Khalid, in an op-ed in Eurasia Review, called the Two Sessions 2026 a pivotal moment for the global economy. He argues that as China shifts toward a consumption-based model, it offers new opportunities for the global economy. “For Global South countries, China is no longer just a buyer of raw commodities; it is now an important partner in digital infrastructure and green energy,” he writes. He also adds that a stable China remains a key pillar for the global economy as it seeks new engines of growth.