China Kicks Off New Five-Year Plan
China has launched its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), with a clear focus on leveraging domestic growth to counter external pressures. The strategy emphasizes consumption, innovation, and green development as Beijing bets on internal demand and tech self-reliance to navigate global economic uncertainty.
This new plan builds on the "dual circulation" strategy, a concept first raised by President Xi Jinping around May 2020. It aims to make China's vast domestic market the primary driver of growth, while still remaining open to international trade, thereby reducing dependency on foreign markets and technology. A core component is the push for "new quality productive forces," which emphasizes high-tech, high-efficiency industries. This involves upgrading traditional sectors like steel and machinery with AI and automation, and cultivating new pillar industries such as aerospace, biomedicine, and clean energy. Specific goals include breakthroughs in semiconductors, advanced materials, and AI. The plan sets ambitious quantitative targets, aiming for research and development expenditure to exceed 3.2% of GDP. On the environmental front, China is targeting for non-fossil fuels to make up about 25% of primary energy consumption by 2030, with a goal to expand wind and solar capacity to over 1,200 gigawatts. This strategy is a direct evolution from the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), which also prioritized technological self-reliance and green development. During that period, China's R&D spending grew by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2024, and the country's installed renewable energy capacity more than doubled by May 2025 from the end of 2020. The implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan is being overseen by key figures including Premier Li Qiang, who has chaired special meetings on its preparation. The National Development and Reform Commission, led by Zheng Shanjie, is tasked with reinforcing the real economy, while the Ministry of Science and Technology, under Yin Hejun, is focused on achieving greater self-reliance in science and tech.
