China targets high-quality development and institutional opening-up for 15th Five-Year Plan

China is preparing for its 15th Five-Year Plan period, focusing on high-quality development and a transition from following global trends to leading in specific economic sectors. A central pillar of this strategy is high-level opening-up, which aims to move beyond traditional trade in goods and services toward institutional opening-up. This involves aligning domestic rules, regulations, management, and standards with international high standards to create a market-oriented and law-based business environment.

The upcoming development phase emphasizes the integration of new development concepts: innovation-driven growth through technological breakthroughs, coordinated regional and urban-rural development, green economic transformation, and more autonomous opening-up. There is a significant focus on the rise of “new quality productive forces,” where technological innovation is expected to shift the economic model from scale expansion to efficiency gains through improved total factor productivity.

To ensure stability, the strategy seeks to optimize the industrial structure by upgrading traditional industries and expanding emerging sectors. This is coupled with a goal to ensure smooth economic circulation by strengthening the domestic market while fostering higher-level synergy between domestic and international economic cycles.