This highly authoritative document, approved at the Fifth Plenum of the 20th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee in October 2025, is the CCP’s list of priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). The overall theme of this Fifth Plenum “Proposal” is “Chinese-style modernization,” a Xi Jinping catchphrase from 2022’s 20th Party Congress. As is typical with plenum documents, the Proposal is a long list of often unrelated Party priorities for the Chinese political system, economy, society, culture, and more. On the basis of this Proposal, China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, will formulate a more detailed “outline” of the 15th Five-Year Plan at its March 2026 annual full session.

An archived version of the Chinese source text is available online at:    https://perma.cc/BGC5-E8R7

Proposal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Drawing Up the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development¹

(Adopted at the Fourth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] on October 23, 2025.)

The Fourth Plenum of the 20th CCP Central Committee, having deeply analyzed the domestic and international situations, presents the following proposal on drawing up the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development.

I. The 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is a critical period for basically achieving socialist modernization.

(1) Major achievements in China’s development were made in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). China’s development journey in the 14th Five-Year Plan period was extraordinary. Facing a tangled and complex international situation and the arduous and weighty tasks of reform, development, and stability, the CCP Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core united and led the entire Party and people of all ethnicities to rise to the challenges and forge ahead. Having withstood the impact of a once-in-a-century pandemic, it responded effectively to a series of major risks and challenges, and pushed to achieve major achievements in the undertakings of the Party and the State. The economy has grown while remaining stable (稳中有进), high-quality development has made solid progress, accomplishments in scientific and technological (S&T) innovation have been abundant, and new quality productive forces (新质生产力) have developed steadily; the comprehensive deepening of reforms has been advanced further, and high-level opening up to the outside (对外开放) has expanded continuously; whole-process people’s democracy (全过程人民民主) has developed deeply, and comprehensive rule of the country according to law (依法治国) has been implemented effectively; development of cultural undertakings and industries has flourished, with an abundance of diverse spiritual and cultural products; the assurance of people’s livelihoods (民生) has been solid and stable, and achievements in poverty alleviation have been consolidated and expanded; the pace of green and low-carbon transformation has accelerated, and the quality of the ecological environment has continued to improve; national security capabilities have been increased effectively, social governance efficiency has been enhanced, and the overall social situation has remained stable; major progress has been made in national defense and military development; the practice of “one country, two systems” has been deepened; great power diplomacy with Chinese characteristics (中国特色大国外交) has been comprehensively expanded; and the results of comprehensively running the Party strictly (全面从严治党) have been significant, with the fight against corruption advancing in depth, and the Party’s creativity, cohesion, and fighting strength have risen significantly. With China’s economic strength, S&T strength, and comprehensive national power having reached new levels, and Chinese-style modernization having made solid new strides forward, the new journey toward the second centennial objective² has gotten off to a good start. The foundation for these major accomplishments lies having the Party Central Committee—with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core—as the pilot at the helm (领航掌舵), and in the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

(2) In terms of progress toward basically achieving socialist modernization, the 15th Five-Year Plan period will hold an important position linking the past with the future. Achieving socialist modernization is a step-by-step historical process of continuous development and progress, one that requires tireless effort and constant struggle. The 15th Five-Year Plan period will be a critical period for laying a solid foundation and making an across-the-board effort toward basically achieving socialist modernization. We must consolidate and expand our advantages, break through bottlenecks and constraints, and address weaknesses and shortcomings. Amid fierce international competition, we must seize the strategic initiative, push for major breakthroughs in strategic tasks relevant to the overall layout of Chinese-style modernization, and establish a more solid foundation for basically achieving socialist modernization.

(3) China’s development environment will face profound and complex changes during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Relationships between great powers³ drive the international situation, and the evolution of the international situation profoundly affects domestic development. China’s development is in a period wherein strategic opportunities coincide with risks and challenges, and where uncertainties and unpredictable factors are multiplying. Internationally, with the accelerating evolution of great changes in the world unseen in a century (世界百年变局), the international balance of power undergoing profound adjustment, and a new round of S&T revolution and industrial transformation bringing accelerating breakthroughs, China has many factors in its favor for operating proactively in the international space and shaping its external environment. At the same time, the world is marked by intertwined turmoil and growing unrest, with geopolitical conflicts becoming more prone to occur and more numerous. Unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, threats from hegemonism and power politics are growing, the international economic and trade order is encountering severe challenges, and the global economy has insufficient growth momentum. The game being played between the great powers (大国博弈) has also become more complex and intense. Domestically, China’s economy has a stable foundation, numerous advantages, strong resilience, and great potential. The long-term positive supporting conditions and fundamental trends remain unchanged. The institutional superiority (制度优势) of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the advantages of a super-large market, a complete industrial system, and abundant talent resources are becoming increasingly evident. At the same time, the problems of imbalanced and inadequate development remain conspicuous; effective demand is insufficient, and bottlenecks persist in domestic great circulation;⁴ new and old dynamic conversion⁵ is proving to be a difficult task; agricultural and rural modernization is comparatively lagging; employment and income growth are under considerable pressure, and there are shortcomings and weaknesses in assuring people’s livelihoods; demographic shifts pose new problems for economic development and social governance; and risks and hidden dangers remain in key fields.

To view the rest of this translation, download the pdf below.

1. Translator’s note: Chinese state press agency Xinhua released an English translation of this Proposal entitled “Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” on October 28, 2025. An archived version of this translation is available online at: https://perma.cc/RA95-ZWGC. In the opinion of CSET’s translation manager, the Xinhua English translation glosses over much of the nuance of the Chinese version, hence this heavily annotated independent CSET English translation.
2. Translator’s note: The “second centennial objective” (第二个百年奋斗目标), as defined by Xi Jinping in his Report to the 19th Party Congress in 2017, is “to establish China as a rich, strong, democratic, civilized, harmonious, beautiful modernized socialist world power” (把我国建成富强民主文明和谐美丽的社会主义现代化强国) by around 2049, the centennial of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has declared that it accomplished the first centennial objective, “to comprehensively establish a moderately prosperous society” (全面建成小康社会), in 2021, the centennial of the founding of the CCP.
3. Translator’s note: This translation renders the Chinese term 大国 dàguó—which literally means “big country” or “great nation”—in English in one of two ways, depending on context. Where the translator judges that the term is used in the general geopolitical sense, it is translated as “great power.” Where the translator judges that the term refers to a specific flavor of dàguó, it is translated as “power,” as in “S&T power” (科技大国).
4. Translator’s note: “Domestic great circulation” (国内大循环) refers to the domestic component of the “new pattern of development” (新发展格局) that Xi Jinping introduced in 2020. The new economic pattern is to consist of domestic great circulation, a.k.a. a domestic consumption-led economy, in a mutually reinforcing relationship with “domestic and international dual circulation” (国内国际双循环).
5. Translator’s note: “New and old dynamic conversion” (新旧动能转换) refers to the upgrading or replacement of old, outmoded industries with newer, technologically advanced ones.