A view of Shanghai Photo: VCG

Editor's Note:

China is revving up efforts to fulfill the targets set in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) in the final year of its implementation and to formulate the next five-year plan. While presiding over a symposium on China's economic and social development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) on April 30, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for adapting to changing situations, grasping strategic priorities, and making sound plans. What are the highlights of China's next five-year plan? What is the significance of China's capacity to focus on long-term objectives in an era marked by unprecedented changes? The Global Times invites three experts to share their views.

Warwick Powell, an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, a senior fellow at Taihe Institute and a former advisor to Kevin Rudd, former Australian prime minister

In an era increasingly defined by geopolitical turbulence and short-termism, China's capacity to focus on long-term objectives stands out. This capacity is not accidental and provides clarity for the nation as well as a safe harbor for nations in the current tempest. It emerges from a complex institutional architecture that enables systematic planning, sustained consultation, and the integration of broad societal input into policy. Central to this architecture are China's five-year plans, strategic documents that reflect not only the will of the state but the contributions of a wide array of societal actors. These plans are not top-down edicts, a common misnomer promoted by an ill-informed West, but are the product of extensive deliberation and engagement across the entire polity. 

The upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan is clearly within this tradition of structured and informed deliberation and planning. The plan emphasized the need to continue China's process of "high-standard opening up" together with a commitment to fostering new quality productive forces, so as to address the uncertainty of drastic changes in the external environment with the certainty of the country's high-quality development.  

The question of the economic development speaks directly to the contours of the global economy and the institutions that support stability internationally. These are under stress in multiple areas, as a result of the US administration's tariff war and its withdrawal from many key multilateral institutions and agreements. The message from China, as emphasized in the 15th Five-Year Plan, is that in times of uncertainty and flux, China understands it has a responsibility both to itself and to the rest of the world to ensure its plans are stable and interactions with China at all levels remain dependable. This is what countries need to chart their own courses of action to find safe harbor and maintain sustainable economic and social development. 

The ability to plan, consult and coordinate over the long term is not just a domestic virtue. Rather, it is increasingly a global asset. As other great powers struggle with internal polarization and short election cycles that encourage reactive rather than strategic policy, China's institutional infrastructure allows it to plan long term, and to stay the course. This enables it to function as a fulcrum around which other nations can orient their own development strategies, trade relations, and diplomatic initiatives. In this sense, China can fulfil its role as a great enabling power.

China's long-term focus is the result of institutional sophistication, rooted in both modern expertise and ancient traditions. The five-year plan system exemplifies an approach to governance that is dialogic, evidence-driven, and anchored in a deep ethic of responsibility. This system reflects a functional polity, where macro-level decision-making is grounded in ethical commitment and societal engagement. In an increasingly fractured world, China does not merely weather the storm; it provides a lighthouse by which others may navigate. That is a role of immense significance and growing global appreciation. 

Keith Lamb, an independent international relations analyst who focuses on China's socialist development and global inequality

China's five-year plans function as comprehensive blueprints for national social and economic development. They outline goals, strategies, and priorities to address evolving historical challenges. In doing so, they align society toward the common good, chart a course for a better future and function as instruments for strengthening China's democracy.

China's five-year plans, when viewed as a continuous series, contribute to a broader national strategy. One such visionary goal is China's aim to build itself into a great modern socialist country in all respects by 2049. Socialism that works for all is, by definition, democratic. Yet, the implications extend far beyond China, offering a model for humanity. Only through deliberate planning can we create a rational world that aligns humanity with nature, rather than perpetuating short-term profiteering at the expense of our planet.

Recognizing China's long-term planning as a key instrument in building a democratic reality and a sustainable future, it comes as no surprise that China now leads the world in green technology, electric vehicles, high-speed rail, and desert reclamation. 

Such achievements would not have been possible if capital, driven by short-term profit cycles, dominated the state at the cost of democracy and environmental well-being.
My call for Westerners to recognize and respect the benefits of China's system does not arise from preaching lofty ideology disconnected from reality but from 15 years of living in China. Living in China, I've witnessed remarkable changes over five years - transformations that might take generations elsewhere. The 14th Five-Year Plan has propelled China to the forefront of numerous technologies, particularly in green innovation. 

As more Westerners begin to see beyond the corporate media narratives that demonize China, there is a growing need to learn from its successes - or risk continued decline. By prioritizing the common good, China's five-year plans are democratic, delivering material, social, and increasingly cultural improvements for the majority, not just a select elite.

Anthony Moretti, an associate professor at the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University

We can anticipate that China will maintain its commitment to long-term thinking, ensuring, among other things, that high-quality development is fundamental to all decisions. 

In effect, goals are set. Overarching everything is the requirement that the overall well-being of the Chinese people is central to every action. 

The following words, uttered by President Xi in 2013, are as relevant now as they were then: "The Chinese Dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation means that we will make China prosperous and strong, rejuvenate the nation, and bring happiness to the Chinese people."

The sober and scientific way China is approaching its 15th Five-Year Plan stands in stark contrast to the volatility often seen in US policymaking. Knowing that shortcoming, more and more Americans are beginning to acknowledge a difficult truth: They would like their country to be liked and respected across the globe, but they realize US influence is slipping.

Other nations and their citizens understand that China's emphasis on peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and win-win cooperation is essential to how China positions itself on the global stage. 

China is poised to embark on its 15th Five-Year Plan - and it should do so with confidence.