15th Five-Year Plan

A preliminary study for the plan by the National Development and Reform Commission took place on 17 and 18 December 2023. According to Arthur Kroeber, speeches before drafting the new plan emphasized new quality productive forces, disruptive innovation, and a new national system for coordination. The fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, held on 20 to 23 October 2025, focused on assessing the previous 14th Five-Year Plan and considered the proposed 15th five-year plan. On 24 October 2025, Premier Li Qiang chaired a special meeting on the preparation of the outline of the 15th Five-Year plan, with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang being present. On 3 November 2025, CCP General Office Director Cai Qi published an opinion piece in the ''People's Daily'', where he stressed the "extreme importance of exercising full and rigorous party self-governance to achieve the economic and social development goals of the 15th five-year plan period". On 27 February 2026, the CCP Politburo held a meeting to discuss the draft outline of the plan, which the State Council intended to submit to the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress for review. The National People's Congress subsequently reviewed the draft outline. It was approved by the NPC on 12 March 2026. == Details ==

The plan seeks to achieve basic socialist modernization. It has six main principles "upholding the party's overall leadership; putting people first; ensuring high quality development; upholding comprehensive and in-depth reform; implementing state market balance to form an economic order that is 'flexible' and 'well managed'; and balancing security and development." For the period, 4.5-5% gross domestic product growth is expected. The central committee has stated that China must "maintain a reasonable proportion of manufacturing" and support "optimizing and upgrading traditional industries". Xi Jinping stated, "real economy cannot be lost". These statements indicate that China's future economic planning will not disregard the manufacturing sector. Other efforts focus on improving China's financial strength. Reforms intended to achieve this goal include "advancing the Chinese currency's internationalization, pursuing greater openness of the capital account, and building a homegrown, risk-controllable cross-border renminbi payment system." The plan encourages adoption of more flexible regulations. Another aspect of the 15-5 is an emphasis on improving social support systems for vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities. One example of this initiative is the opening of a "silent café" that employs deaf workers inside a government office in Huai'an. Key indicators The following targets were set under the plan: == See also ==