Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

"China's five-year plans have profoundly impacted US businesses," a finance professor at Emory University said in her recently released "quantitative analysis" on the plans. She pointed out that between 2001 and 2020, when China backed an industry through its five-year plans, US factories in the same sector shed about 5 percent of jobs and around 6 percent of investment, while the probability of factory closures in that industry rose by 1 percentage point. The gap between this conclusion and both logic and facts is far more than marginal.

First, as a key model for China's economic and social development, the Five-Year Plan is by no means a post-2001 invention. In 1953, the newly established People's Republic of China formulated its first Five-Year Plan for the development of the national economy. This blueprint was designed to ensure that large-scale construction projects were carried out under sound planning guidance, thereby avoiding potential recklessness. 

Decades have passed, and despite dramatic changes in the external environment, China has consistently adhered to this governance model to promote the sustained development of its economy and society. It is precisely because of this framework that China was able to swiftly fulfill its WTO accession commitments after joining the WTO in 2001, unlocking tremendous development opportunities and cementing stable trade ties for members of the multilateral economic and trade system.

Second, China's Five-Year Plans are designed for its own development, not to target any other party. As a steadfast participant in and supporter of economic globalization, China keeps its doors wide open to foreign capital, facilitating cross-border industrial relocation and the global footprint of multinationals. The Five-Year Plans point to hope and bright prospects ahead. 

In recent years, China's green, innovative and shared economy has gained immense room for growth. China's manufacturing foundation and favorable development outlook provide crucial conditions for related industries to overcome commercialization barriers. Meanwhile, the stable policy signals sent by Five-Year Plans enable industries to fully leverage economies of scale. Sectors ranging from solar PV and wind power to new-energy vehicles would face a far longer journey to achieve practical application without access to China's market.

Third, the decline of relevant US industries is not directly linked to China; rather, the evolution of the US' own social values and industrial profit structures has altered its resource allocation model. In recent years, a false narrative has taken hold in the US claiming that China has "stolen" American jobs. However, for all enterprises, sustained profitability is the most important driver of business decisions. Excessively high costs and fragmented supply chains have greatly constrained the development of the US' manufacturing industries. 

Over the past few decades, there has been a significant shortage of domestic students in the US willing to pursue majors related to manufacturing. Meanwhile, international students seeking to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines and foreign professionals working in relevant sectors have been subject to sweeping restrictions. 

Faced with labor shortages, a shrinking industrial base, and insufficient investment in R&D and incubation, massive capital has flowed out of manufacturing into high-tech and financial sectors that deliver higher yields. US manufacturers once relied heavily on imported components and intermediate goods from China to keep production running, but steep tariffs have rendered this model unsustainable.

China's position as the hub of the global supply chain continues to strengthen, and this is closely tied to the operational model of China's economy and society. When doing business with Chinese companies, partners can fully focus on products and business models, without worrying about unwarranted interference from unilateralism or trade protectionism. Chinese goods are made to meet the demands of the global market. 

By contrast, the US consumer market's share of the global economy is gradually declining. Rather than having criticized China for "moving too fast," it would be wiser to abandon the rigid mind-set of trying to solve today's problems with yesterday's tools. 

Instead, the US should strengthen industrial chain cooperation with developing countries, including China, to enhance supply chain resilience. This would help avoid becoming an isolated outlier that erects trade barriers against the prevailing trend of globalization.

The author is a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn