Xi outlines major strategic priorities for 2026-2030 economic, social development plan

Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined the major strategic priorities in planning for national economic and social development in the 2026-2030 period during an inspection tour of China's financial hub of Shanghai on Wednesday, emphasizing the importance of fostering new quality productive forces and advancing scientific and technological innovation.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the inspection tour of Shanghai from Tuesday to Wednesday when China revs up efforts to fulfill the targets set in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) in the final year of its implementation and to formulate the next five-year plan.

China's five-year plan is a key guiding document for medium-to-long-term economic and social progress, which sets the country's overall goals, major tasks and policy orientation across various sectors over a five-year period.

Since its first launch in the 1950s, the five-year plan has been serving as a blueprint for China's overall development. The formulation process operates through a well-structured framework that combines the centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee with extensive democratic participation.

Presiding over a symposium on China's economic and social development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) on Wednesday, Xi said higher strategic priority must be given to fostering new quality productive forces in line with local conditions in the next five years.

After hearing opinions and suggestions from leading officials of several provincial-level regions attending the symposium, Xi stressed that scientifically formulating and continuously implementing the five-year plans is an important experience of the CPC in governing the country, and also an important political advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

He called for adapting to changing situations, grasping strategic priorities, and making sound plans for the country's economic and social development in the 2026-2030 period.

It is essential to have a forward-looking grasp of the impact brought by the development and changes in the international landscape, and guide the adjustment and optimization of the economic layout in accordance with the trend, Xi said.

Efforts should be made to unswervingly manage China's own affairs well, expand high-standard opening up, move faster to create a new pattern of development and comprehensively promote high-quality development, he said. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, chaired by Xi last Friday, noted that it is imperative to coordinate domestic economic work and endeavors in the international economic and trade field, unswervingly manage the country's own affairs well, stay committed to expanding high-standard opening up, and deal with the uncertainty of drastic changes in the external environment with the certainty of the country's high-quality development. On Wednesday's symposium, Xi highlighted the roles of technological innovation and the real economy, urging efforts to transform and upgrade traditional industries, develop emerging industries, and make forward-thinking arrangements for industries of the future, so as to accelerate modernization of the industrial system.

Underscoring benefiting the people, Xi also called for ensuring and enhancing the people's livelihoods through development and steadily advancing common prosperity.

Ahead of the symposium, Xi visited the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center on Tuesday, a large-model incubator home to over 100 enterprises, urging the city to take the lead in AI development and governance while highlighting China's vast potential for the industry.

"High technologies like AI is a nascent undertaking that belongs to young people. This undertaking is part of our endeavors to advance Chinese modernization, build China into a strong country, and realize the great cause of national rejuvenation, and the hope lies in all of you," Xi told young innovators.

The Yangtze River Delta region, anchored by Shanghai, is at the forefront of China's AI innovation. DeepSeek, hailing from Hangzhou in the southern part of the delta region, is less than 200 kilometers away from Shanghai.

Xi's inspection tour came four days after China's leadership convened a dedicated AI study session, during which Xi called for gaining a head start in this strategic sector.

During the group study session, Xi emphasized that in the face of rapidly evolving new-generation AI technologies, China shall give full play to the advantages of the new system for mobilizing resources nationwide, uphold self-reliance and self-strengthening, prioritize application-oriented development, and promote healthy and orderly advancement of the country's AI sector toward a beneficial, safe and equitable direction.

Also on Tuesday, Xi visited the New Development Bank in Shanghai and met with Dilma Rousseff, president of the institution.

"Over the years, I have followed with keen interest the development of the New Development Bank, witnessing its remarkable evolution into an emerging force within the international financial system and a model of the Global South cooperation," Xi said at the meeting with Rousseff.

Xi said at the meeting that no matter how the international situation changes, the general course of human development and progress will not alter.

China has achieved its development through self-reliance and hard work. It will firmly safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests, as well as the common interests of the international community, Xi noted.

For her part, Rousseff said unilateralism and protectionism have been eroding the authority of international law and undermining the stability of industrial and supply chains. She said the New Development Bank will remain true to its original aspiration, take active measures, and contribute to promoting the development of developing and emerging-market countries.

China is injecting more certainty, stability and positive energy into a turbulent world.

Xi outlines major strategic priorities for 2026-2030 economic, social development plan

As Chinese-made new energy vehicles continue to power ahead and take the world by storm, the answer to what makes the country's smart manufacturing power strong enough to lead global auto production can be found in the electric vehicle (EV) HyperFactory of Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi.

The tech giant, better known for its smartphones and home appliance products, marked its bold foray into the auto market in 2021, when it set up a state-of-the-art factory in the Being Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beiing E-Town -- a key innovation hub for China's autonomous driving industry.

Despite the enormous scale of this facility, there are few workers in sight, with robotic arms instead moving with precision and speed, seamlessly assembling vehicle body components.

Every single Xiaomi SU7 electric car is born in this factory, where production lines run day and night, with a new car rolling off the line every 76 seconds. More than 700 robots work in sync across these highly automated production lines. Key processes are 100 percent automated -- making this facility a true example of next-generation manufacturing.

Song Jiaqiang, a production technology director at the Xiaomi EV HyperFactory, said the plant has set a benchmark in China's push for new quality productive forces -- an initiative aiming to promote high-tech development through innovation -- thanks to its exceptional application of artificial intelligence and automated processes.

"The first thing is the incredible level of automation and intelligence in this factory. Key processes are 100 percent automated. On top of that, we've introduced an industry-first AI (artificial intelligence) quality inspection system, which boasts an accuracy rate of 99.9 percent," he said.

Inside the factory, robots operate 24-hours a day, and they don't even need human staff to maintain their battery life -- when power runs low, they autonomously locate charging stations and recharge themselves.

Beyond core process automation, even material handling is finished by autonomous mobile robots, keeping the production lines running around the clock without interruption.

"The factory is packed with over 700 industrial robots. Right here in the body shop, we're looking at a 91 percent overall automation rate," said Song.

This advanced level of automation has been the key to Xiaomi's success, speeding up operational efficiency, ensuring greater build accuracy and ultimately delivering higher quality products, as Song explains.

"Take the rear door assembly, for example. Robots handle everything, from automatically picking up the part and inserting bolts, to placing it onto the body. They then inspect both the body and the component, while simultaneously tightening and adjusting the bolts to achieve a perfect fit with minimal gaps. It's a fully automated, intelligent process that drastically reduces, or even eliminates the need for human involvement," he said.

China's world-leading prowess in the smart manufacturing looks set to continue as the Xiaomi factory aims to further boost speed and AI capabilities, while helping upgrade the performance of domestically-made equipment.

Xiaomi's EV HyperFactory offers glimpse into future of smart manufacturing