China's 15th Five-Year Plan sets a blueprint for high-quality growth at home while opening new opportunities abroad, said foreign guests attending the China Development Forum in Beijing.
The two-day forum, themed "China in its 15th Five-Year Plan period: advancing high-quality development and creating new opportunities together," highlights Beijing's role as a key engine of global growth as the 2026‑2030 plan takes shape.
Premier Li Qiang, in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, said China will continue to embrace free trade, advance high‑standard opening up, and work with other countries to enlarge the global economic and trade pie.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), China will accelerate the development of future industries by building pilot zones, guiding regions to leverage their strengths, and cultivating leading science and technology enterprises to create globally influential new tracks.
Experts at the forum praised China's five-year planning system for its track record in meeting targets and advancing innovation and green technologies.
"I think the five-year plans have proven to be very effective. And one thing that I admire about China is when goals get set, they stick to the goal and almost always the goal gets met, and it's very impressive. R and D and innovation and green technologies, China really moved to pushing the frontier of understanding about very critical topics. The world will benefit from that," said Michael Greenstone, a professor at the University of Chicago.
"I think the messaging sent by the latest five-year plan is one of continuity but a doubling down on the real strengths of the Chinese economy, which are industrial innovation and growth in new technology areas. It is one of the great stabilizing forces in the world economy, both in terms of the purpose of its direction, of its development, and in terms of the demand that it provides to other economies," said Adam Tooze, a professor at Columbia University.
As China is accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system, developing new quality productive forces and building a strong domestic market, global business leaders at the forum said the country’s vibrant market is opening fresh opportunities for international investors.
"I think it's an exciting vision. We're growing very rapidly. We're certainly the fastest growing big company in our industry in China last year. This year for sure we will be. So we're excited about all those things. And I think five years time we have unlimited possibilities," said David A. Ricks, chairman and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company.
"China is the second biggest drug developer in the world. In the last few years only, the number of the drugs developed in China doubled. And one third of all global licensing deals last year was with the companies originated from China, which gives a very clear message and confidence in the China bio-tech innovation. So we are very keen to build both manufacturing and research and development capacity and capability here in China to basically deliver more innovations," said Iskra Reic, AstraZeneca executive vice president, international.
"We have done huge steps in China, and we have in the meantime, 8,000 employees. We have more people in research and development than in production. We have one billion research and development investment in Shenzhen to build our center," said Bernd Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers.
By combining continuity with new momentum in technology and industry, the 15th Five-Year Plan positions China as both a stabilizing force and a source of fresh opportunities for global cooperation.
China’s 15th Five‑Year Plan wins global praise, opens new tracks for innovation, investment
