Foreign envoys in Beijing say China's annual "two sessions" have become a key window into the country's development trajectory, with this year's meetings drawing global attention to the draft outline of the 15th Five‑Year Plan.
The "two sessions," referring to the annual gatherings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), opened in Beijing on March 4 and 5. The blueprint of the 15th Five‑Year Plan (2026‑2030), which maps China's priorities for the coming years, has been placed firmly in the spotlight.
Ambassadors from several countries told China Central Television (CCTV) they are closely following China's development trends and expect deeper cooperation in joint growth.
Maldives Ambassador to China Fazeel Najeeb said he was struck by the scale and rigor of China's planning process.
"I was also very impressed by how the Chinese planning process takes place and this time it culminated in the introduction of the 15th Five-Year Plan. In general, China has been making (progress), in terms of development, in terms of social development, economic development and in terms of how China makes tremendous efforts to make lives of the Chinese people better every day, year by year. This touched me quite a bit," said Najeeb.
"I've been able to see the strategic planning from the [Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party] as to how the continuous development of the People's Republic of China has progressed and continues to grow, to improve. Looking at the documents, attending sessions, you can see the strategic strides that are made from a holistic perspective,"said Ian Marshall, Grenada's Ambassador to China.
"What certainly can be detected is this shift, or you may call it transition, from high growth to high quality growth, focus on industrial development, technological development. Just for example, in the field of robotics, it's amazing progress that it so clearly witnessed. For example, in the (Chinese) New Year's Eve shows what we saw last year with Unitree robots performing and what we saw then this year. It's a huge step in their development. But this is only one example of what to follow in this technological sphere," said Croatia's Ambassador to China Dario Mihelin.
Ghana's Ambassador to China Kojo Bonsu believes that China's development blueprint unveiled at the "two sessions" offers opportunities for other countries to learn and cooperate.
"Two sessions is all about telling the world what China is going to do for the year. And Ghana is really going to learn from it because this is what you tell the world what you're going to do, so it's worth listening to. We are interested in the energy side, which has greened the world. China is in the lead, so these are some of the innovations that we want to pick from," he said.
Global focus on China's 15th Five-Year Plan as foreign ambassadors highlight joint growth prospects
