How do five-year plans drive China's comprehensive development?

BEIJING -- The year 2025 marks the final lap for implementing China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). The plan prioritizes high-quality development over traditional growth-centric targets, reflecting the evolving priorities of the world's second-largest economy.

As an important institution that embodies the unique advantages of China's national governance system, five-year plans have been instrumental in pushing forward the country's development in all sectors over the past decades.

With this year's two sessions officially kicking off on Tuesday, China's national lawmakers and political advisors are set to review the nation's achievements and elaborate on future plans. It also presents an opportune occasion to revisit the significance of China's five-year plans -- what they are and how they have contributed to the country's remarkable progress.

WHAT IS A FIVE-YEAR PLAN?

The five-year plans serve as a comprehensive blueprint for China's economic and social advancement, outlining goals, strategies and priorities for each planning cycle.

Since the launch of the first Five-Year Plan (1953-1957), these plans have not only steered China's transformative development but also evolved to meet the distinct challenges of each era.

For instance, the first Five-Year Plan emphasized heavy industry and industrialization; the seventh Five-Year Plan (1986-1990) aimed to resolve basic subsistence needs; the ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) charted a course toward moderate prosperity; and the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) emphasized the comprehensive achievement of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

The 14th Five-Year Plan, launched after China achieved the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, focused on high-quality development. Breaking from tradition, it did not set an explicit GDP growth target but instead prioritized green transition, technological self-reliance, common prosperity, balanced regional development, as well as deeper reform and high-standard opening up.

"The early five-year plans primarily focused on economic development, but over time, social welfare, technological innovation and environmental protection were incorporated," said Yan Yilong, deputy dean of the Institute for Contemporary China Studies of Tsinghua University.

"Today, the five-year plan encompasses a comprehensive range of areas, covering economy, society, technology, ecology and culture, reflecting a holistic approach to development," he said.

WHY DO FIVE-YEAR PLANS WORK IN CHINA?

Featuring continuity, forward-looking strategic planning and effective implementation, the five-year plans have played an important role in transforming the nation from an agrarian backwater into a global industrial powerhouse.

Despite evolving priorities across all 14 five-year plans, from industrialization and economic reform to sustainability and innovation, the overarching goal has been unwavering -- national development and prosperity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that from the first Five-Year Plan to the 14th Five-Year Plan, the consistent theme has been to build China into a modern socialist country.

Hailing the five-year plans "strategic and flexible," British scholar Martin Jacques said: "The five-year plans are suited to the Chinese mentality and the Chinese idea of thinking long-term."

As Yang Yongheng, vice dean of the China Institute for Development Planning of Tsinghua University, noted, "From a historical perspective, the five-year plan functions as the phased deployments of China's national development strategy. Each of them serves as a step-by-step arrangement to ensure policy continuity and alignment with long-term strategic objectives."

During the evolvement of the five-year plans, two terminology revisions in its title are worth noting. One is the sixth Five-Year Plan (1981-1985). "Social development" was added in the document's title alongside "national economy," broadening its scope and emphasizing the link between economic growth and social progress, and reflecting a shift toward coordinated economic-social development.

The other is the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). The official title has been referred to in Chinese as "guihua" instead of "jihua." Though both meaning "plan," "guihua" is more macroscopic, strategic and policy-oriented than "jihua."

Formulation and implementation are also key to ensuring the success of these plans. After decades of exploration, a multiyear, standardized process to formulate a five-year plan has been formed. It begins with a mid-term assessment of the prior plan, including preliminary research, drafting, consultations, inter-agency coordination, expert reviews and formal approval. That is to ensure a transparent, consultative and evidence-based process, reflecting public priorities while forging national consensus.

Major projects are core pillars in the implementation of five-year plans. From the 156 Soviet-assisted projects in the first plan to the 165 projects proposed in the 13th plan and the 102 projects in the 14th, over a thousand projects have forged the backbone of China's economy and are a testament to the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

"China possesses a robust capacity to achieve national goals," Yan said, adding that "the five-year plan is a unique edge of China's governance."

WHAT HAVE THE PLANS ACCOMPLISHED?

From an agrarian society to the world's second-largest economy, China has achieved the twin miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability, with all five-year plans playing a crucial role.

The figures speak for themselves.

During the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), China rose to become the world's fourth-largest economy. By the subsequent 11th plan, China overtook Germany and Japan, securing the second spot globally. By the conclusion of the 13th plan in 2020, China's GDP had crossed the 100 trillion yuan (13.7 trillion U.S. dollars at the current rate) threshold. Since 2021, the starting year of the 14th plan, China's per capita GDP has remained above 12,000 dollars annually.

Take poverty alleviation. It was included in the agenda as early as the seventh plan. Over the past decades, China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, which accounts for more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction, meeting the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ahead of schedule.

Additionally, China has achieved 126 indicators ahead of schedule for the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to a UN report.

China's pattern of using such plans to promote development has emerged as an alternative model for effective governance for countries in the developing world.

Recognizing that the strengths and successes of previous five-year plans can serve as a foundation for future ones, while weaknesses and shortcomings are meticulously analyzed and addressed, Melaku Mulualem, a senior international relations and diplomacy researcher at Ethiopia's Institute of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that conducting a comprehensive evaluation every five years is a practice worthy of emulating.

Many developing countries, inspired by China's success, have followed China's lead by developing mid- to long-term strategies, with countries like Poland, Ethiopia and Tanzania having even invited Chinese institutions to assist in their planning consultations, Yin Jun, a researcher at Peking University, wrote in his book A Review from the 1st to 14th Five-Year Plan.

"Planning is talked about in a lot of countries, but the Chinese have cracked it in a way that I don't think any other country has cracked it," Jacques said, adding that other countries could learn something from China in this field for their own policy.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of Qiushi Journal.