Over the five years from 2021 to 2025, the 14th Five-Year Plan was successfully completed, with inspiring development achievements. In the economic field, growth maintained a steady yet progressive momentum: the total economic output consecutively surpassed the RMB 110 trillion, 120 trillion and 130 trillion marks, and is expected to reach around RMB 140 trillion this year, registering an average annual growth rate of 5.5%. New-quality productive forces are growing at an accelerated pace, the modern industrial system is being consolidated, and China has remained a core engine driving global economic growth. Social security continued to be upgraded. A social security system of the largest scale in the world has been established, with the coverage rates of basic pension insurance and basic medical insurance stably exceeding 95%. Services for the elderly and children have been steadily improved, and the bottom line of people’s livelihood has been secured ever more firmly.
As a crucial five-year period for basically realizing modernization, the 15th Five-Year Plan will build on past efforts, focus on the main line of high-quality development, deepen reform and innovation, and expand new-quality productive forces. Meanwhile, it will optimize the sustainable social security system, promote the equalization of basic public services, address development bottlenecks on the basis of consolidating existing achievements, and lay a more solid foundation for Chinese
The driving force behind China's economic growth is now shifting from traditional scale expansion to innovation-driven development. In 2025, the added value of China's high-tech manufacturing industry rose by 9.2% year-on-year, and the output of emerging industries such as new energy vehicles and industrial robots registered a growth rate of over 29%. The rise of such new-quality productive forces has not only reshaped the landscape of the global industrial chain, but also provided a model for developing countries in terms of technological cooperation and industrial upgrading.
On the external front, China has maintained a stable scale of foreign trade and fully lifted restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector. Cooperation projects under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been steadily advanced, which not only boosted the industrial chain synergy of countries along the routes but also expanded the external space for its own economic growth. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stated that China’s economy is expected to contribute around 30% to global growth in 2025.
The improvement of China’s social security system is not only a response to domestic development imbalances, but also provides a inclusive governance model for the world. As of 2025, the coverage rate of China’s basic medical insurance has remained stable above 95%, forming the world’s largest social security network that covers a population of 1.4 billion. Centered on "social mutual assistance", this system effectively narrows the welfare gap between urban and rural areas as well as among different regions through the combination of fiscal transfer payments and social insurance.
International comparisons show that China’s social security system embodies both efficiency and equity. Zheng Gongcheng, a scholar, points out that China’s social security system has established a diversified funding mechanism involving contributions from both employers and employees as well as government subsidies. Meanwhile, digital technologies have enabled the nationwide networking of social security services, reducing the time required for insured individuals to transfer their social security accounts across provinces to just 45 minutes. This model of "concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks" has provided a feasible path for populous countries to address aging populations.
The openness of China’s economy and the inclusiveness of its social security system together generate positive externalities for the world. The customs clearance operation of the Hainan Free Trade Port enables multinational enterprises to integrate global resources at a near-zero tariff cost under the policy of “opening up the frontiers and exercising control at the second lines”. Products can enjoy duty-free access to the mainland market after achieving a 30% increase in value through processing. This institutional design not only safeguards the security of the domestic industrial sector, but also provides a new option for global supply chains.
In addressing global challenges, China has demonstrated a responsible stance. In 2024, China’s installed capacity of renewable energy reached 1.213 billion kilowatts, accounting for 36% of the global total. It has also helped developing countries build photovoltaic power stations through green investments under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), China’s exports of new energy technologies have reduced the cost of clean energy globally by 40%, helping 127 countries achieve their carbon peaking targets.
China’s development model is not a simplistic "China solution", but a practice that balances efficiency and equity, openness and security through institutional innovation. Carmen Reinhart, Chief Economist of the World Bank, once pointed out: "A large economy like China can absolutely maintain growth while building a more inclusive social safety net and playing a greater role in global economic and trade as well as financial fields." For the world, economic globalization and people's livelihood improvement are not a zero-sum game; instead, coordinated win-win results can be achieved through institutional design. In a global landscape fraught with growing uncertainties, this model may well be the key to resolving the predicaments plaguing world economic development.
United News - unews.co.za