Inner Mongolia's 14th Five-Year Plan achievements and 15th Five-Year Plan outlook

Editor's note: Zhang Hui, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Situated on the northern frontier of China, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region possesses immense development potential and holds a strategically important position. The 14th Five-Year Plan period represents a critical five years for Inner Mongolia to explore new pathways in the process of achieving Chinese modernization, and a crucial phase for implementing its five major strategic positioning goals.

Over the past five years, the Communist Party of China Committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has united and led the people of all ethnic groups in the region to precisely implement a series of policy measures that address current needs while laying a foundation for long-term development. They have successfully fulfilled the main objectives and key tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan, and have maintained a stable and upward economic trajectory while taking solid strides on the path towards high-quality development.

Remarkable achievements of Inner Mongolia during the 14th Five-Year Plan period

First, Inner Mongolia has seen a significant boost in overall economic strength, accompanied by steady improvements in the quality and efficiency of development. Over the past five years, the region has made high-quality development its primary mission. This focus has driven three new leaps forward in overall economic power, tech-driven innovation, and industrial optimization. The region's GDP broke the 2 trillion-yuan (around $290 billion) threshold in 2021 and surpassed 2.6 trillion yuan by 2024. Throughout the first four years of the 14th Five-Year Plan, annual GDP growth averaged 6.1%, outperforming the national average by 0.6 percentage points. By 2024, per capita GDP topped 110,000 yuan, sitting at 1.15 times the national average.

Technologically, Inner Mongolia reached a major milestone in 2022 when it officially became a moderately innovative region. Crucial metrics such as technology investment, output, and industrial innovation have rocketed into the national top 10. A prime example is the 2024 launch of China's first zero-carbon heavy-duty mining truck. Decisively breaking its historical dependence on coal, the region has laid the framework for a modern industrial system. By strategically mapping out 10 major industrial clusters and 21 industrial chains, Inner Mongolia is driving the smart, green transformation of traditional industries like steel and chemicals while simultaneously fueling the rise of strategic emerging sectors such as new energy equipment, advanced rare earth materials, and biomedicine.

Second, Inner Mongolia has made remarkable strides in ecological civilization construction, firmly cementing its green credentials. By prioritizing ecological health and green development, the region has achieved three continuous positive trends across comprehensive environmental management, low-carbon development outcomes, and ecological system building.

The scale of such greening efforts led the nation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The region has completed 123 million mu (around 8.2 million hectares) of ecological restoration, including bringing 66.88 million mu of desertification under control. Today, forest cover stands at 22%, while grassland vegetation cover remains above 45%. With the grass-livestock balance index for natural grasslands falling below 10%, Inner Mongolia has achieved simultaneous increases in forest and grassland cover, along with continued declines in desertified and sandy land.

Over the first four years of the 14th Five-Year Plan, energy intensity fell by an impressive 16.8%. This efficiency allowed a mere 1.4% average annual increase in energy consumption to fuel a robust 6.1% average annual GDP growth.

Over the past five years, triumphs in the battles for blue skies, clear waters and clean soil have also been evident: Upgrades have been finalized for 21 million kilowatts of thermal power and 28.12 million tons of steel capacity, keeping the proportion of good air quality days above 90%.

Crowning these efforts, Inner Mongolia has established China's largest new energy base. By the end of 2024, total installed new energy capacity hit 135 million kilowatts. Today, the region stands unrivaled, ranking first nationwide in newly-added new energy capacity, total installed capacity, and overall new energy power generation.

Third, Inner Mongolia has significantly enhanced its ability to serve the national agenda and execute its strategic role. By embracing its state-entrusted missions, the region has become a linchpin for China's energy, food and resource security, as well as a key player in international trade.

The region's energy contributions during the 14th Five-Year Plan have been immense. By November 2025, annual coal output held steady at over 1 billion tons, with more than 60% exported to secure the power supply for over two-thirds of China's provinces. Meanwhile, outbound electricity transmission remained above 40%, making up more than a sixth of the nation's total cross-provincial power transfers, thus maintaining Inner Mongolia's first-place national ranking for 20 consecutive years.

Agricultural output is equally robust. In 2024, grain production hit 41 million tons, ranking sixth in China and producing enough to feed 400 million people for a year. The region also currently leads the country in milk, beef, mutton, forage and cashmere production, supplying nearly half of all domestic cashmere and cementing its status as an agricultural powerhouse.

Finally, Inner Mongolia is steadily building itself into a vital bridgehead for China's northward opening. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan began, the region has witnessed 1,900 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight trains. Port cargo throughput surged to a record 123 million tons in 2024, pushing the total value of foreign trade to nearly double its 2020 levels.

Looking Ahead: Key tasks for the 15th Five-Year Plan

The 15th Five-Year Plan marks a defining era for China to solidify its foundation and fast-track its goal of basically realizing socialist modernization. For Inner Mongolia, this is a pivotal moment to drive high-quality development and break new ground. Guided by the principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, Inner Mongolia will anchor its efforts in high-quality development. Ultimately, the core mission is to fulfill the growing desire of people from all ethnic groups for a better life, pushing all regional initiatives to new levels of success.

The region needs to fast-track a modern industrial system and deepen high-quality growth. To build a modern industrial system tailored to its unique strengths, Inner Mongolia is anchoring its industrial transformation in the new development philosophy by pushing sectors to become more high-end, intelligent, and green.

First, the region is doubling down on its traditional industrial advantages. This means upgrading core sectors like coal, power, rare earths, and coal chemicals. A key priority is extending the rare earth supply chain to focus on high-end, precision-functional materials.

Second, Inner Mongolia is aggressively expanding its emerging industries. Strategic sectors spanning new energy, advanced materials, biomedicine, and the digital economy are taking center stage. By scaling up operations in crystalline silicon photovoltaics, wind power equipment, and green hydrogen, the region is forging powerful new industrial clusters.

Third, the region is bridging the gap between digital and real economies. By accelerating the digital transformation across manufacturing, agriculture and services, Inner Mongolia is setting the stage for high-quality, tech-driven economic growth.

Beyond industrial growth, Inner Mongolia is reinforcing its role as a vital ecological security barrier for China's northern frontier, a responsibility of immense national importance. As the 15th Five-Year Plan unfolds, the region is moving to tightly synchronize environmental protection with green, low-carbon growth.

A major focus is the sixth phase of the monumental Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program. Through massive land-greening campaigns and the rigorous restoration of grasslands, forests, wetlands and deserts, Inner Mongolia is locking in its victories against desertification and erecting a resilient "green Great Wall." At the same time, the region is intensifying its fight against pollution. By doubling down on the battles for blue skies, clear waters and clean soil, Inner Mongolia is upgrading ecological management and drastically improving both urban and rural living conditions. Finally, to drive a sweeping low-carbon transition and meet the nation's dual carbon targets, the region is overhauling its energy structure. By surging its renewable energy capacity, championing clean resource use, and scaling up green industrial clusters, Inner Mongolia is setting a new benchmark for sustainable development.

To continuously deepen reform and stimulate developmental vitality, Inner Mongolia must use institutional opening-up as its guiding principle. By breaking down entrenched structural barriers and broadening its scope for external engagement, the region aims to optimize its business environment and inject new dynamism into its high-quality development.

Domestically, the focus remains on streamlining administration, delegating power, improving regulation, and upgrading government services. By cutting red tape and fast-tracking structural overhauls in its fiscal, financial and electricity markets, Inner Mongolia is building a highly efficient ecosystem that empowers private enterprise and market players, hence improving the business environment.

Internationally and regionally, Inner Mongolia is steadfast in its commitment to opening its doors wider. The region is accelerating its role as a vital bridgehead for northward opening, pushing for the creation of its own pilot free trade zone, and fully integrating into the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor. At the same time, it is forging stronger domestic partnerships by expanding economic cooperation with Northeast China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the Yangtze River Delta, while taking the Beijing-Inner Mongolia collaboration framework to new heights.

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