China's Five-Year Plan mechanism has been serving as a crucial stabilizing force for the economy and institutions, according to experts.
Five-Year Plans are a distinctive strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics, representing a key element of China's governance success. Rooted in the evolving economic and social realities, these plans set objectives, strategic priorities and actionable paths for each stage of China's modernization every five years, guiding the country through continual and adaptive adjustments.
Speaking on a China Global Television Network (CGTN) program that aired Monday, experts from China and elsewhere shared their views on the importance of the Five-Year Plan.
"China's Five-Year Plan is a very unique institution because it basically lays out both at the macro but also the micro level what the country is aimed to achieve economically and socially. And basically, at the different stages of the next five years, we're going to come back and review how progress has been made at the end of the five-year cycle," said Qian Jun, executive dean of International School of Finance at Fudan University.
"It is important to emphasize that five-year is a very important cycle for economic growth and for financial systems. It's not too long. If it's too long, then obviously, goals set at the beginning of the point, maybe there's too much uncertainty to talk about realization. On the other hand, it's very important it's not too short so that you don't pay enough attention to goals farther outside," Qian said.
David Mahon, executive chairman of the Mahon China Investment, a consulting firm that helps foreign companies to enter and expand in the Chinese market, said the function of the Five-Year Plan mechanism as a steadying hand has become abundantly apparent in the current historical moment.
"In an age of considerable transition and tumult globally, looking at the manner in which the Five-Year Plan functions, it is a stabilizing force in the Chinese economy. It's also a process of refining institutions. The one thing that is assumed about China is that its institutions are now fully developed, when actually they're still in the process of evolution. So, the Five-Year Plan is important in reviewing where we've come from, but also making sure that policies refine them going forward, make them stronger and more relevant to the market," said Mahon.
China's Five-Year Plans serve as stabilizing force for growth: experts
