China defines “technological self-sufficiency” as an axis of the next five-year plan

The Chinese Communist Party today defined “scientific and technological self-sufficiency” as a central axis of the next five-year plan, in an international context marked by the trade war with the United States and pressure on the world’s second largest economy.

The statement released after the conclusion of the fourth plenary of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which took place behind closed doors in Beijing since Monday, establishes the priorities for the period 2026-2030, also highlighting the need to “boost new productive forces” and reinforce the “base of the real economy”.

The document calls for the accelerated construction of “a modern industrial system”, with a focus on advanced manufacturing, digitalization and technological integration, and defends “effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth” as structuring goals to achieve socialist modernization by 2049 – the centenary year of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Scientific innovation occupies a central place, with proposals to “strengthen research in critical technologies”, “coordinate the development of a strong country in education, science and technology” and “improve the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system”.

The plan also highlights the importance of “modernizing agriculture and fully revitalizing rural areas”, as well as “optimizing regional distribution” and “promoting coordinated development between the coastal regions and the interior of the country”, in a context of growing territorial inequalities.

The text reiterates the commitment to “high-level opening” and the creation of “new opportunities for cooperation and mutual benefit”, despite the technological restrictions imposed by Washington in sectors such as semiconductors. Although the document does not directly mention the trade conflict with the USA, it refers to a “complex international panorama” and highlights the need to “improve the macroeconomic management system” to guarantee “stable and high-quality development”.

The declaration comes at a time when the country is facing significant internal challenges: the prolongation of the crisis in the real estate sector, the weakening of domestic consumption, record levels of youth unemployment, the aging population and risks of deflation.

Unlike previous planning cycles, the new plan should give greater emphasis to the mobilization of internal resources, energy efficiency and sustainability, reflecting the decarbonization commitments made by the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, who set carbon neutrality as a goal by 2060.

The new plan also comes in a political context marked by the strengthening of Xi’s personal power, who consolidated an unprecedented third term, and by the increasing centralization of economic decisions within the Party, to the detriment of local authorities.

Since 1953, the five-year plans have served as a guide for China’s economic policy. Initially focused on production and growth goals, they have transformed in recent decades into strategic documents that express the ideological and political priorities of the leadership.

The final version of the plan will be approved by the National People’s Congress, China’s highest legislative body, in March 2026, and will guide China’s economic and social policy during the second half of the decade.