China’s new blueprint heralds fresh opportunities for China-EU cooperation

Recently, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was successfully convened in Beijing.

The plenum deliberated over and adopted the recommendations of the central committee of the CPC for formulating the 15th five-year plan for national economic and social development.

It laid out the top-level design and strategic blueprint for China’s development in the next five years, injecting valuable stability into a world marked by changes and turbulence with the certainty of China’s high-quality development.

First, carrying out the set blueprint until it becomes reality to ensure policy consistency and stability.

Formulating medium and long-term plans to guide economic and social development is an important approach in the CPC’s governance of the state.

Since 1953, the party has led the Chinese people from one generation to the next in implementing 14 five-year plans, and in particular, since reform and opening-up, has created two major miracles: rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.

During the 14th five-year plan period, in face of a complex external environment, China remained committed to managing its own affairs well and made solid progress in advancing Chinese modernisation.

From 2021 to 2024, China’s economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.5 percent, significantly higher than the global average.

Its contribution to global economic growth remained at around 30 percent, continuing to serve as an important engine and anchor of stability for the world economy.

In the first three quarters of this year, China’s GDP exceeded RMB 100 trillion yuan, and is expected to reach RMB 140 trillion yuan for the full year.

Meanwhile, China achieved remarkable results in green transition.

Between 2021 and 2024, energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 11.6 percent, making China one of the countries with the fastest decline in energy intensity.

Second, focusing on high-quality development to comprehensively consolidate the foundation for future progress.

The period covered by the 15th five-year plan (2026–2030) will be critical as we work to reinforce the foundations and push ahead on all fronts toward basically achieving socialist modernisation by 2035.

It will thus serve as a key link between the past and the future.

China will continue to leverage the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Although the international environment is undergoing profound and complex changes with mounting destabilising factors and uncertainties, the Chinese economy is on solid foundations, demonstrating advantages in many areas, strong resilience, and great potential.

The conditions and underlying trends supporting long-term growth remain unchanged.

China will continue to leverage the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics, its super-large domestic market, its complete industrial system and its abundant human resources, and transform these strengths into real progress in high-quality development.

During the 15th five-year plan period, China’s major goals for economic and social development include: significant achievements in high-quality development; substantial improvements in scientific and technological self-reliance and strength; fresh breakthroughs in further deepening reform comprehensively; notable cultural and ethical progress across society; further improvements in quality of life; major new strides in advancing the Beautiful China Initiative; and further advances in strengthening the national security shield.

To realise these goals, the plan lays out 12 major strategic tasks, including building a modern industrial system and consolidating the foundation of the real economy, covering all sectors of China’s economic and social development.

These measures will lay a stronger foundation for China to basically achieve socialist modernisation by 2035 and further reinforce China’s role as a global growth engine, contributing to sustained global economic recovery and development.

Third, expanding high-standard opening-up to share opportunities through win-win cooperation.

China is now the world’s second-largest importer and consumer market, with total imports reaching about €2.3 trillion in 2024.

According to WTO data, China contributed 20.3 percent of global import growth. Guided by the strategy of expanding domestic demand, the 15th five-year plan proposes to steadily expand opening-up at the institutional level, promote broader international economic flows, align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, expand market access and open up more areas, in particular in the service sector, and unilaterally open up more sectors to more regions, promote the innovative development of trade, and ensure both easy market access and accommodating business environments for foreign investors.

This signifies a shift from the traditional model of opening-up focused on the flow of goods and production factors toward a new model centered on rules, regulations, management, and standards.

This will create a more enabling institutional environment for global trade and investment, provide enormous development and cooperation opportunities for countries around the world, including European nations, and offer more reliable support for global economic growth.

As the 14th five-year plan comes to a successful conclusion and the 15th five-year plan begins, China will further comprehensively deepen reform across the board, unswervingly expand high-standard opening-up, promote higher-quality economic growth while achieving an appropriate increase in economic output, and make solid headway in promoting well-rounded personal development and common prosperity for all.

All these will open up broader prospects for China-EU cooperation.

Standing at the new starting point of the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations, China is ready to work with the EU to seize opportunities, address challenges, advance practical cooperation in various fields, and contribute more strength to building a community with a shared future for mankind.