Photo: Zhang Weilan/GT

As China's 14th Five-Year Plan nears completion, the country is already setting its sights on the next plan, which Chinese President Xi Jinping has stated "must focus on the goal of basically realizing socialist modernization, with a view to building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation" at a Wednesday symposium on China's economic and social development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

China's Five-Year Plans function as comprehensive blueprints for national social and economic development. They outline goals, strategies, and priorities to address evolving historical challenges. In doing so, they align society toward the common good, chart a course for a better future and function as instruments for strengthening China's democracy.

Western observers should recognize the adaptability of China's Five-Year Plans. While the first plan prioritized industrialization, the current one, the 14th Five-Year Plan, emphasizes high-quality development, including green technology, domestic consumption, and rural revitalization.

Before a Five-Year Plan is finalized and publicized, Chinese citizens are invited to share their suggestions, concerns, and aspirations. Experts from a wide range of fields are consulted to ensure the plan's feasibility. Each new plan reflects on the successes and shortcomings of its predecessors, building upon them to guide future progress.

In contrast, citizens in Western countries devoid of state plans are unable to effectively judge whether their government is working democratically for them or for another agenda. In such a scenario, democracy is an ideology, not a reality. Democracy becomes an act of systemic self-definition rather than material substance.

In practice, those who control Western states are following plans, but these are crafted privately by think tanks or even foreign actors to avoid democratic scrutiny, as their minority agendas would be rejected by the majority. As a result, regime-change liberal wars have been presented as mere happenstance rather than coordinated strategies. 

China's Five-Year Plans, when viewed as a continuous series, contribute to a broader national strategy. One such visionary goal is China's aim to build itself into a great modern socialist country in all respects by 2049. Socialism that works for all is, by definition, democratic. Yet, the implications extend far beyond China, offering a model for humanity. Only through deliberate planning can we create a rational world that aligns humanity with nature, rather than perpetuating short-term profiteering at the expense of our planet.

Recognizing China's long-term planning as a key instrument in building a democratic reality and a sustainable future, it comes as no surprise that China now leads the world in green technology, electric vehicles, high-speed rail, and desert reclamation. Such achievements would not have been possible if capital, driven by short-term profit cycles, dominated the state at the cost of democracy and environmental well-being.

China's long-term planning, which regulates capital actually benefits it by providing security for companies, boosting business confidence in the country's policies and fostering a stable investment environment. This stability is consistent in China's diplomacy allowing the world to trade and negotiate with China in good faith knowing treaties and deals will be respected.

My call for Westerners to recognize and respect the benefits of China's system does not arise from preaching lofty ideology disconnected from reality but from 15 years of living in China. When I first arrived in 2005, I encountered poverty, choking pollution, and poor transportation - worlds apart from the West at that time and strikingly different from the China of today. When I pointed out these issues, I was assured that there was a plan to address them. "Impossible," I cynically replied, believing such changes would take a lifetime. However, within five years, based on the material changes I witnessed I was forced to revise my original assessment.

Living in China, I've witnessed remarkable changes over five years - transformations that might take generations elsewhere. The 14th Five-Year Plan has propelled China to the forefront of numerous technologies, particularly in green innovation. Consumer choice has expanded dramatically, and the countryside now boasts modern infrastructure, a thriving tourism sector, and advanced agricultural practices.

As more Westerners begin to see beyond the corporate media narratives that demonize China, there is a growing need to learn from its successes - or risk continued decline. By prioritizing the common good, China's Five-Year Plans are democratic, delivering material, social, and increasingly cultural improvements for the majority, not just a select elite.

The author is an independent international relations analyst who focuses on China's socialist development and global inequality. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn