Xi stresses key role of 15th Five-Year Plan

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has emphasized that formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) is of great significance for facilitating China's sustained and sound development, and for putting the country on firmer foundations for basically achieving socialist modernization as planned.

The remarks were made in Xi's explanatory speech on the recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan, delivered at the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, which concluded last week in Beijing.

Both the speech and the recommendations, which were adopted at the plenum, were made public on Tuesday.

In his speech, Xi said the recommendations were drafted to make systematic plans and strategic arrangements for China's economic and social development in the next five years.

The recommendations were initiated in line with the country's strategic development goals, recognizing the pivotal role of the next five years, and based on an in-depth analysis of both the domestic and global landscapes, he added.

He highlighted that the drafting process placed particular emphasis on staying oriented toward both goals and problems, applying systems thinking, further deepening reform comprehensively, and opening wider to the outside world.

"Socialist modernization can only be realized through a historical process of gradual and ongoing development. It requires the unremitting hard work of one generation after another," Xi said.

He noted that the 15th Five-Year Plan period will serve as a critical stage in building on past successes to break new ground for basically achieving socialist modernization by 2035.

Elaborating on important points and major measures in the recommendations, Xi pointed out that a key development objective for the 15th Five-Year Plan period is to maintain an appropriate rate of economic and social development.

He also defined promoting high-quality development as the main focus in this period, stressing that the recommendations highlight the guiding role of scientific and technological innovation and make overall plans for modernizing the industrial system, boosting self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and accelerating the green transition across the board.

A group was established in January for the purpose of drafting the recommendations, with Xi serving as its chief. The group convened its first plenary meeting in February, marking the official start of the drafting work.

Throughout the drafting process, the CPC Central Committee followed a democratic approach and drew on a vast pool of wisdom, conducting in-depth surveys and studies, and seeking opinions from within and outside of the Party, Xi said.

The CPC Central Committee organized six teams to conduct research projects in 12 provincial-level regions. In addition, 35 key research projects were assigned to Party and government bodies, and multiple symposiums were held. An online campaign was launched to gather public suggestions, receiving more than 3 million comments.

During the drafting process, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee met three times and the Political Bureau convened on two occasions to review and revise draft versions of the document, before the final draft recommendations were submitted to the plenary session for deliberation.

"It is fair to say that the drafting work for this document is yet another vivid example of intra-Party democracy and whole-process people's democracy in action," Xi said.

Yan Yilong, deputy dean of the Institute for Contemporary China Studies at Tsinghua University, said the recommendations provide political guidance for formulating the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan.

The drafting of the outline has officially begun and the draft outline is scheduled to be submitted to next year's two sessions for deliberation, Yan noted.