China’s five-year plan marks new phase of modernization and global cooperation

Since the launch of the first Five-Year Plan (FYP) in 1953, China has achieved remarkable progress in socioeconomic and human development. The past seven decades have seen China’s implementation of 14 FYPs.

The beauty of this institutional design lies in integrating the long-term development strategy with pragmatic course of action, plus creating an efficient market with a proactive government role, coupled with a top-level planning reinforced by massive public input.

From the 1st to the 15th FYP, China’s overarching goal has remained to steer its national development steadily towards set objectives, pool resources available to achieve an epic leap forward, and enable China to stand on its own feet, grow prosperous, and become strong, ultimately advancing towards a great modern socialist country in all respects.

Over the past 72 years, China has, with support from friendly nations worldwide, vigorously developed its industrial complex, which covers manufacturing the first made-in-China automobile and aircraft, the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, and the successful development of atomic and hydrogen bombs and artificial satellites, to name just a few. These milestones have helped transform an impoverished and agrarian China into a modern industrial country, and established a comprehensive industrial and economic system, laying a solid foundation for future growth.

The 6th to the 10th FYP period saw China’s rapid ascent following its reform and opening up. The land household contract responsibility system reinvigorated the rural economy, while the inception of Special Economic Zones opened the country wider to the world, bettering people’s livelihoods and boosting economic growth. China weathered the Asian financial crisis during the 9th FYP, and its WTO accession in the 10th FYP built the economy into the ranks of the world’s largest, further accelerating industrialization and urbanization.

In 2012, the CPC 18th National Congress officially introduced a new Two-Step Strategy to achieve centenary goals by 2049. From the 11th to the 13th FYP, China has realized an historic landmark by lifting 98.99 million rural population out of absolute poverty under the current poverty line, and made decisive strides in improving the socialist market economy. By the end of the 13th FYP period (2015-2020), China has fulfilled the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

The 14th FYP period (2020-2025) saw subsequently China’s economic, technological, and comprehensive national strength reach new heights, charting the steady course of realizing the Second Centenary Goal by 2049. The 15th FYP thus plays an instrumental role in building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious and beautiful.

China’s decades-old practice has reaffirmed the effectiveness of the FYP system, serving as a key institutional arrangement behind China’s twin miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term stability. As Nobel laureate economist Robert Engle noted, “When China plans development for the next five years, the U.S. can only plan for the next election.” While the FYP is not unique to China, it is only China with scientific design and consistent implementation that has made such remarkable success.

The FYPs provide China with a clear-cut, phase-wise, and coherent strategic guidance, and constitute an essential part of institutional building and governance capacity. It also injects much-needed certainty into an evolving world, and provides positive energy for global development. The core principles of the FYPs underpinning this success include adhering to a people-centric development philosophy, integration of top-level design with people’s needs, a well-coordinated planning on addressing major national tasks, and dynamic adjustments to fine-tune development pathways through practice.

The 15th FYP (2026–2030) represents a pivotal phase in China’s basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035. It will focus on high-quality development, enhancing the real economy while expanding cooperation and inclusive growth. Over the next five years, China will not only optimize traditional manufacturing and foster emerging industries, but also make forward-looking investments in future industries and frontier technologies, such as quantum computing and 6G. The projected plan may unlock RMB 10 trillion in market of traditional industries and double the scale of high-tech sector within a decade.

Learning from China’s FYP implementation, Pakistan can also translate its abundant resources and development potential into tangible benefits. The Lahore-based Haier-Ruba Economic Zone has so far created 6,000 direct jobs, and generated an annual output of USD 400 million and USD 120 million in tax revenue.

The expansion of the Chinese-invested Challenge Garment Park is set to create 20,000 jobs and achieve USD 400 million in annual exports. The Bahawalpur Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park and Chashma Nuclear Power Plant have respectively delivered clean and affordable electricity to millions.

The Orange Line Metro, the most advanced rail transit system in South Asia, has been operating over 65 million train-kilometres and carried more than 270 million passengers, contributing to urban mobility and environmental improvement.

The 15th FYP, aligned closely with Uraan Pakistan, will promote China-Pakistan cooperation and improve well-being of the public, as more skilled jobs created and youth empowered. Developing the upgraded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will also extend cooperation dividends from the urban areas to the far-flung regions, enabling a larger population of Pakistan to have a more sense of ownership and benefits.

The 70-year-plus FYP design and implementation in China has demonstrated that the FYP is an effective and efficient instrument for development, anchoring continuity, stability, and prosperity. As China embarks on the remarkable journey of implementing the 15th FYP, it will continue to work with Pakistan to provide new opportunities for latter’s sustainable development, and jointly write a new chapter of their iron-clad friendship and enduring partnership.