President says development blueprint for 2026-30 must look forward amid challenges

President Xi Jinping has underlined the need to take a forward-looking approach, and to consider the impact of the changing international landscape on the country’s socioeconomic development, in formulating China’s next five-year plan for 2026-30.

He said it is important to adapt to changing situations and grasp strategic priorities to work out the 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development in a scientific way.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on April 30 in Shanghai when chairing a symposium attended by senior officials from several provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions.

Xi’s remarks came as China steps up efforts to fulfill the targets set in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) in the final year of its implementation, and to formulate the next five-year plan.

Five-year plans, which serve as comprehensive blueprints for China’s economic and social advancement, outline the goals, strategies and priorities for each planning cycle. Since the launch of the first Five-Year Plan (1953-57), the plans have not only steered the nation’s transformative development, they have also evolved to meet the distinct challenges of each era.

Formulating and implementing the five-year plans in a scientific way is an important experience of the Party in governing the country, significantly representing the political advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xi said.

In working on the 15th Five-Year Plan, he highlighted the importance of unswervingly managing the country’s own affairs well and remaining committed to expanding high-standard opening-up.

Amid the uncertainties and challenges caused by changes in the external environment, particularly due to the tariff and trade wars launched by the United States, Xi has said on many occasions that China must manage its own affairs well to counter the unfavorable conditions.

At the April 30 symposium, he reiterated that the country must take multiple steps to keep employment, businesses, markets, and expectations stable, and to effectively stabilize the fundamentals of the Chinese economy.

Xi underscored the need to make greater efforts to coordinate development and security, comprehensively take into account the internal and external risks and challenges, and enhance the system and capacity for safeguarding national security.

Efforts must be made to ensure that the targets and tasks that will be laid out in the next five-year plan are scientific and precise, and will be met as scheduled, he said.

Xi highlighted the strategic importance of developing new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions, saying that the country’s development should be driven by technological innovation, with the real economy being the foundation.

He called for comprehensively advancing the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, actively developing emerging industries, and proactively laying the groundwork for future industries to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system.

Efforts should also be made to enhance the national innovation system and unleash the vitality of various innovation entities, Xi said.

It is important to aim for the forefront of global science and technology, focus on strengthening basic research and enhancing original innovation capabilities, and intensify efforts to make breakthroughs in core and cutting-edge technologies in key fields, he added.

Noting that Chinese modernization entails achieving socialist modernization with common prosperity for all, Xi said that in planning the economic and social development for the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it is crucial to uphold the principle of ensuring and improving people’s well-being through development, and to steadily advance common prosperity.

He emphasized the need to study and implement effective measures to promote coordinated development among various regions, consolidate and expand achievements in poverty alleviation, advance rural vitalization on all fronts as well as urban-rural integration, and steadily increase the income of urban and rural residents.

It is essential to introduce a series of balanced and accessible livelihood policies and measures, and to make efforts to address urgent issues and the immediate concerns of the people, Xi said, adding that all policies and measures must be pragmatic and effective.

caodesheng@chinadaily.com.cn