China's five-year blueprint set to foster emerging, future industries

China's outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), adopted on Thursday, maps out a systematic path toward high-quality development by building new growth drivers through the fostering of emerging and future industries.

In the latest five-year blueprint, the emerging strategic industries China will nurture have been expanded to include new sectors like intelligent connected new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and robotics. It also outlines plans to establish emerging strategic industry clusters tailored to local conditions, each with its own distinctive features and complementary strengths.

Experts suggested that this marks a shift for emerging industries -- from isolated breakthroughs to scaled, clustered development.

"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we aim to further promote and expand emerging industries in both scale and quality. The development of industrial clusters is a clear reflection of economies of scale. Building on the existing foundation, this will further sharpen the international competitiveness of our emerging industries. The blueprint's emphasis on new application scenarios and innovative business models will also help steer these industries toward a higher quality of development," said Wei Qijia, a researcher at the State Information Center, which is under China's National Development and Reform Commission.

The plan also identifies key frontiers to reach, including quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied artificial intelligence (AI) and 6G. Moving beyond mere technological roadmaps, it also stresses the need to build a full-chain incubation system for future industries.

"This forward-looking approach reflects a keen sense of foresight. The plan introduces mechanisms for identifying and monitoring emerging industries and making dynamic adjustments accordingly. If a particular new area or arena shows potential to foster emerging future technologies, it needs to be identified as early as possible. The blueprint's specific references to initiatives such as pilot zones for future industries and research institutes dedicated to their development also signal an important direction in terms of working methodology -- providing clear guidance on how to nurture the industries of the future," he said.

China's five-year blueprint set to foster emerging, future industries

France's gross domestic product (GDP) stalled in the first quarter of 2026, recording zero growth from the previous quarter, according to preliminary data released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

The stagnation came as final domestic demand excluding inventories remained sluggish. Household consumption edged down 0.1 percent in the first three months of the year, a reversal from the 0.4 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, gross fixed capital formation also fell back by 0.4 percent.

Foreign trade exerted a strong negative contribution to GDP growth in the first quarter, subtracting 0.7 percentage point after adding 0.6 point in the previous quarter. This downturn was driven by a sharp 3.8 percent drop in exports, while imports also continued to decline, falling 1.7 percent.

In contrast, changes in inventories provided a strong positive contribution of 0.8 percentage point, rebounding from a negative 0.7 percentage point in the fourth quarter of 2025. The INSEE said the inventory build was driven mainly by aerospace products.

Total production of goods and services remained sluggish in the first quarter, rising by 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2025.

France's GDP stalls in Q1 2026 as foreign trade drags