China's 15th Five-Year Plan a blueprint for people-centric growth & global stability

Editor's note: Ankit Prasad is a CGTN biz commentator. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The communique following the fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) makes for encouraging reading as far as both Chinese and global economic prospects are concerned. Acknowledging the complex international landscape, the document lists several guiding principles and functional areas related to the 15th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development, which will be in force from 2026 to 2030. While the eventual goal is achieving socialist modernization, the path traverses several avenues that encompass economic growth that's real, tangible, right-spirited and with the people at its core.

15th Five-Year Plan's focus on people first and high-quality development

That there are no shortcuts to success is abundantly clear from the communique's idealism. "The focus must be on economic development, with promoting high-quality development as the main theme, reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, and meeting the people's ever-growing needs for a better life as the fundamental goal." It is, at its heart, a people-centric document, which is also indicated by per capita GDP being the only macroeconomic metric it singles out, targeting to raise it to the level of a moderately developed country.

The thrust is on real growth, and on building a modern industrial system with advanced manufacturing as its backbone. To this end, the document states that China should keep its focus on the real economy, continue to pursue smart, green, and integrated development, and work faster to boost China's strength in manufacturing, product quality, aerospace, transportation, and cyberspace. It adds that China should upgrade traditional industries, foster emerging industries and industries of the future, promote high-quality, efficient development in the service sector, and develop a modernized infrastructure system.

Self-reliance that aims at innovation and an advanced domestic market

The objective of accelerating self-reliance, particularly in science and technology, is to steer the development of new quality productive forces. The document says that China should promote advances in original innovation and breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, facilitate full integration between technological and industrial innovation, pursue integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, and advance the Digital China Initiative.

Self-reliance also pertains to the 15th Five-Year Plan's focus on building a strong domestic market. It is noted that China should build a robust domestic market and work faster to foster a new pattern of development. Guided by the strategy of expanding domestic demand, the document stresses that China should work toward improving living standards while increasing consumer spending and coordinating investments in physical assets and human capital. It is noted that China should see that new demand drives new supply, which in turn helps generate fresh demand, and that positive interactions are fostered between consumption and investment and between supply and demand. All this will help enhance the dynamism and reliability of the domestic economy. To this end, it is stated that China should boost consumption, expand effective investment, and eliminate bottlenecks and obstacles hindering the development of a unified national market.

'Good for China, good for the World': A philosophy of win-win cooperation

At the same time, alongside self-reliance, the document also advocates expanding high-standard opening up to the outside world and creating a new situation of win-win cooperation. It is stressed that China should promote high-standard opening up and create new horizons for mutually beneficial cooperation. China should continue to expand opening up at the institutional level, safeguard the multilateral trading system, and promote broader international economic flows. China should advance reform and development through greater openness and seek to share opportunities and achieve common development with the rest of the world. 

In economic terms, the 15th Five-Year Plan's blueprint serves as a beacon for stability, sustainability and real growth, while assuring further high-standard reform and opening up. Crucially, it vows to accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, re-committing to the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. All in all, it makes clear that China will continue accelerating on its current path.

Read together, the document sets a simultaneously reassuring and exciting framework for the 15th Five-Year Plan. Already during this decade, the world has ventured into a transformative new age of sci-tech progress and democratization, with AI and green technologies leading the way. With China—as one of the world's most scientifically prolific countries, green energy leader, and contributor of as much as 30 percent of global growth—pledging to accelerate its own modernization, this not only portends well for the rest of the world, but also effectively guarantees it.

And as the 14th Five-Year Plan has shown, achievability and accountability are important tenets of this model of economic planning. Just like various departments have been holding press conferences sharing their five-year report cards, targets of the 15th Five-Year Plan will also be tracked closely till achievement. Clearly, it's not only a blueprint for the future, but also a solemn pledge to the Chinese people - one that will undoubtedly be fulfilled through concrete actions.