Two important Sessions in China — the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — were convened in Beijing, March 5-12 and March 4-11, respectively. Over 5,000 delegates deliberated on the draft Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China (2026-2030) ( called the Plan) and the priorities of economic and social development for 2026. In recent encounters and communications with my Indian friends, many showed interest in learning more about the Plan. The following provides a brief introduction to it.
Since China started its first Five-Year Plan in 1953, 14 Five-Year Plans have been successfully concluded by 2025. This plan-implement-review consistency has shown China’s institutional advantage and helped boost its economy to a size of about $20 trillion — the second-highest in the world in terms of nominal GDP.
The Plan period is meant to lay a solid foundation for building China into a socialist, modern country. The Plan emphasises four areas in setting the major strategic tasks for the next five years: Pursue high-quality development, strengthen the domestic economy, advance common prosperity, and ensure both development and security. It specifies 20 main growth indicators covering five broad areas, namely economic development, innovation, public well-being, green and low-carbon development, and security. And it proposes a total of 109 major projects, among which 28 focus on new quality productive forces, 23 on further modernising infrastructure systems, nine on integrated urban-rural development, 25 on public well-being, 18 on green and low-carbon transition, and six on food and energy security.
As China’s roadmap unfolds towards 2035, what opportunities can it create for the world? The Plan delivers the message that China remains a stable anchor for the world economy and a reliable partner in addressing global challenges. Given its 1.4 billion people, China’s modernisation drive will bring certainty, predictability and positive momentum to a turbulent and fragmented world. With a vision to reach the status of a “medium-developed” economy by 2035, China targets a per capita GDP of over $20,000. China’s ever-growing market will create enormous opportunities for global goods and services.
China’s priorities of innovative and sustainable growth, as well as boosting domestic consumption, will translate into tangible opportunities across various sectors for investors and businesses worldwide. For instance, China’s massive investment in renewables, AI and AI plus, quantum computing, brain-computer interface, smart economy, and advanced manufacturing will not only bring new drivers for global economic growth, but also create new demands for international cooperation in talents, technologies, application scenarios, and partnerships.
In the process of joint contribution and sharing through research and development projects or participation in emerging industrial clusters, businesses and enterprises, colleges and universities, research institutions, and start-ups worldwide can benefit from expanded access to China’s innovation ecosystem as its doors keep opening wider. More significantly, China’s peaceful and high-quality development provides important experience and reference for countries in the Global South.
In consideration of evolving developments at home, disturbances and challenges abroad and other relevant factors, and taking into account both what is needed and what is possible, China set its GDP goal at 4.5-5 per cent for 2026. This is meant to ensure its GDP keep growing within an appropriate range, with an annual growth rate to be determined in light of actual conditions, while striving for better results in practice.
China’s 2026 priorities include, inter alia, building a robust domestic consumption market, fostering new growth drivers, achieving greater self-reliance in science-tech, building a high-standard socialist market economy, and expanding high-standard opening up. China pledges to move faster toward all-around opening up through links running eastward and westward, across land, and over sea. Data show Chinese border authorities handled 185 million entries and exits in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year growth of 13.5 per cent. China’s pilot free trade zones (FTZs) have expanded to 23 by early April 2026 with the establishment of the China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
China will expand opening-up trials for value-added telecom services, biotechnology, wholly foreign-owned hospitals, and other fields, take well-ordered steps to expand opening up in the digital sector, and shorten the negative list for cross-border trade in services. It will develop national comprehensive demonstration zones for promoting greater openness in the services sector, advance negotiations to conclude more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements, and continue to be fully engaged in the reform of the World Trade Organisation to safeguard and develop the open world economy.
China will facilitate the expansion, upgrading, and growth of the “cross-border e-commerce plus overseas warehouses” model, and promote the development of logistics services for international delivery. It will also expand trade in intermediate goods, advance digital trade and green trade, boost border trade, encourage and expand two-way investment cooperation, and deepen reform of the institutional framework for promoting foreign investment and ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises.
In a nutshell, China remains a strong engine for global growth and shares with the world its development opportunities. By shifting from old drivers of growth to new ones, China will contribute more to the world with its advanced, green, and efficient technologies and ever-increasing innovation. Persistent in its high-standard opening up, China stands ready to work with all countries in the world, including India, to make the cake of development bigger and contribute more to the well-being of the international communities.
The writer is the Chinese Consul General in Mumbai
