China Prioritizes Tech, Consumption in 5-Year Plan
China unveiled its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), emphasizing a dual strategy: indigenous tech innovation and boosting domestic consumption. Beijing is intensifying efforts to achieve technological self-sufficiency with investments in AI, semiconductors, and clean energy. The policy stresses expanding domestic demand to spur private consumption and support services, retail, and tourism.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) follows a series of social and economic development initiatives dating back to 1953. These plans, issued by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), shape the Chinese economy through plenums of its Central Committee and national party congresses. The 15th plan emphasizes technological self-reliance and boosting domestic consumption. The "tech content" of China's capital market is climbing, with the electronics industry surpassing the banking sector to become the largest, accounting for 12.42% of the total market capitalization. High-tech companies listed on the ChiNext board posted revenues of 3.25 trillion yuan with net profits of 244.7 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2025. China has a goal to become a global leader in AI by 2030, with investments potentially delivering a 52% return on invested capital. However, Chinese households have been deleveraging, with the household debt-to-GDP ratio falling from 61.4% in 2024 to 59.4% at the end of 2025. National retail sales grew by just 3.7% in 2025, below the 5% GDP growth rate. The government is considering increased fiscal spending on social security and welfare, as well as interest subsidies for residential mortgage loans, to boost consumption. The plan sets a GDP growth target of 4.5-5%, the slowest since China's reform and opening up. It also aims to cut China's carbon intensity by 17% over the five years from 2026-30. The plan continues to call for China's development of a "new energy system that is clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient" by 2030, with continued additions of "wind, solar, hydro and nuclear power".
