Tian Xuan Photo: Courtesy of Tian

Taking account of China’s economic fundamentals, growth potential, and the internal and external environment it faces, China is anticipated to set its GDP growth target at around 5 percent for 2026, and China’s continuous efforts to boost technology innovation and opening-up will inject certainty and new momentum into the global economy in multiple dimensions. Despite complex changes in the domestic and international economic environment, the Chinese economy moved forward under pressure toward new directions in 2025, achieving results in high-quality development. Last year, the economy surpassed the threshold of 140 trillion yuan ($20.01 trillion), meeting the annual growth target of around 5 percent, continuing to lead major economies and fully demonstrating the resilience and vitality of China’s economy.

Last year, multiple sectors delivered strong performance. The industrial structure continued to optimize, with the value-added of industrial enterprises above designated size increasing by 5.9 percent year-on-year. Notably, equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing showed strong momentum, demonstrating notable progress in China’s industrial transformation and upgrading as well as the cultivation of new quality productive forces.

The service sector also grew, with its internal structure continuously optimizing. The country’s foreign trade in goods recorded steady growth and trade structure continues to improve, with exports of high-tech products rising 13.2 percent year-on-year and market diversification further advancing. 

The development of new quality productive forces will accelerate, and the strong growth momentum of equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing will continue to lead industrial upgrading.

The anticipated growth target in 2026 will not only align with the principle of “seeking progress while maintaining stability” and the requirements for promoting high-quality economic development, but also correspond to the average growth rate during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). Moreover, the target accords with the complexity and uncertainty of the domestic and international economic environment, leaving room to address various risks and challenges ahead.

A sunrise view over Honglingjin Park and the CBD in Beijing on November 20, 2025 Photo: VCG

It is necessary to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the establishment of a new development paradigm, and focus on promoting high-quality growth.

According to the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, China will continue to advance sci-tech innovation and opening-up during the next five years.

In the field of sci-tech innovation, China, with the cultivation of new quality productive forces at its core, will accelerate breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, and biotechnology, driving the extension of global industrial chains toward higher value chains. Technology spill-overs from advantageous industries such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaics will assist the global green transition and provide scaled solutions for addressing climate change. Meanwhile, China’s ultra-large market provides application scenarios for global innovation, accelerates the iteration of new technologies and the industrialization process, and forms a virtuous cycle of “innovation-application-re-innovation.”

In terms of opening-up, China, building on the construction of a unified national market, will continue to shorten the negative list for foreign investment access, expand opening-up in fields such as high-end manufacturing and modern services, and promote the optimization of global trade. Meanwhile, China actively participates in global economic governance, promotes reform of the multilateral trading system, and will play a constructive role in rule-making in emerging fields such as digital trade and green economy, helping to build a more open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial global economic system.

The article is compiled based on an interview with Tian Xuan, president of the National Institute of Financial Research at Tsinghua University. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn