Global Times | Innovation sets tone for China's high-quality development from 2026 to 2030
As China nears the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) and accelerates the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), its pursuit of high-quality economic development is entering a new and critical stage. Technology innovation, as the main driving force of high-quality growth, is evolving from an engine that propels progress into a key force reshaping the nation's economic landscape.
Building on the significant achievements that China has made in driving economic transformation through innovation, the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) will not only mark another pivotal phase in advancing high-quality development, but also to build a science and technology powerhouse and fostering new quality productive forces in the country.
Looking back on the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), China has achieved a series of substantial breakthroughs in cultivating new quality productive forces. From artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G communications to advanced manufacturing, quantum technology, biomedicine, manned spaceflight, and deep-sea exploration, both the depth and breadth of China's innovation, as well as its industrial integration, have expanded significantly.
Technological innovation has not only driven the optimization of China's industrial structure but has also become a key pillar of economic transformation. Taking the new-energy vehicles (NEV) and photovoltaic panels as examples, China has already built up global competitive advantages in green technology innovations and market capacity.
In other cutting-edge fields such as the digital economy, AI, and robotics, China has made notable progress too, while leveraging its vast market size to accelerate real-world applications. This has laid a solid foundation for the emergence of future trillion-yuan industries and created new engines for high-quality development.
The rise of innovation hubs in the country such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, and Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, vividly illustrates how technological strength is reshaping regional economic structures.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), the innovation-driven development strategy is expected to further unleash its effectiveness on a broader magnitude. China has integrated the new development philosophy - featuring innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing - into its policy framework and industrial layout. The share of high-tech manufacturing in total industrial output has increased, and its digital economy has shown significant advantages.
China's achievements in clean energy and green manufacturing are helping more economies in the world reduce their dependence on traditional energy sources and address the challenges of climate change, contributing to cleaner and more sustainable global growth.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the deeper integration of new energy, new materials, and intelligent manufacturing is expected to forge new technological strengths and drive the next phase of industrial transformation.
However, China's rapid development has also encountered an increasingly uncertain landscape of global tech competition.
A new round of scientific and industrial revolutions is accelerating, with frontier fields such as AI, quantum computing, biotechnology, and renewable energy becoming focal points of strategic competition among major economies. At the same time, challenges persist, including external restrictions on access to critical technologies, and certain countries' attempts to contain China's technological progress. Despite these headwinds, China's technological innovation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) will continue to foster ingenuous innovation.
China will further promote international cooperation in science and technology, building an open innovation ecosystem with ever-growing competitiveness. It aims to participate more deeply in global science and technology governance, strengthen Belt and Road Initiative cooperation on innovation, launch major international science programs, and foster a global innovation community based on mutual benefit and shared growth.
The 15th Five-Year Plan period will be challenging and full of opportunities too. Confronted with intensifying global technological competition and a complex external environment, China is expected to ramping up its efforts in innovation, research and talent development, resource allocation, and international cooperation - making innovation a more important engine of high-quality economic growth.