By: Zhao Xing, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan
On March 12, 2026, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China adopted the Resolution on the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) for National Economic and Social Development. Since the early 1950s, China has formulated and implemented 14 five-year plans, laying a solid foundation for the country’s long-term development. It is through well-designed planning and consecutive implementation of five-year plans that China has achieved a historic leap from poverty and backwardness to becoming the world’s second-largest economy.
The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical stage in building on past successes to break new ground for basically realizing socialist modernization. With changes unseen in a century accelerating across the world and external uncertainties and instabilities notably increasing, China’s formulation and implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan concerns not only its own development, but is also closely linked to global stability and progress.
First, China’s development will demonstrate greater certainty. The 15th Five-Year Plan sets out 20 main indicators covering areas such as economic development, innovation, public well-being, green and low-carbon development, and security. It highlights four major strategic tasks: pursuing high-quality development, strengthening the domestic economy, advancing common prosperity for all and ensuring both development and security. It also proposes a total of 109 major projects in six areas. Through this comprehensive arrangement, China will give full play to the strengths of its system and the strengths it has as a major country, continue to break new ground in Chinese modernization, and make steady progress toward the goal of basically realizing socialist modernization by the year 2035.
Second, China’s development will enjoy stronger stability. The 15th Five-Year Plan adheres to ensuring both development and security, strengthening safeguards in key areas such as food, energy, finance, and cyberspace. It also improves public safety system and enhances public safety governance. At the same time, China will continue to adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, keep in mind both domestic and international imperatives, and advance the development of a unified national market. These efforts will effectively boost the economy’s internal growth momentum and risk resilience. As the world’s largest potential consumer market and the largest developing economy, the underlying trend of long-term growth remain unchanged, and China will continue to serve as an important stabilizing force for global growth.
Third, China’s development will generate new drivers and opportunities. The 15th Five-Year Plan emphasizes keeping the focus of economic development on the real economy, fostering new quality productive forces through scientific and technological innovation, and nurturing emerging industries and industries of the future. Under the guidance of the new development philosophy, sectors such as artificial intelligence, high-end manufacturing and new energy are witnessing vigorous growth, and new quality productive forces are taking shape at a faster pace. This will create new opportunities for the economic development of all countries and open up new space for international cooperation.
The 15th Five-Year Plan is guided by principles such as putting the people first, pursuing high-quality development, and ensuring both development and security. These are well aligned with Afghanistan’s needs in advancing national reconstruction, improving people’s livelihoods, and strengthening regional connectivity. Located at a key crossroads linking Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia, Afghanistan stands to benefit significantly from enhanced infrastructure connectivity, smoother trade flows, and deeper industrial cooperation, which are of great importance to both its own development and regional stability and prosperity.
China stands ready to take policy communication as a guide and practical cooperation as a driving force, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and steadily expand collaboration in political, economic, and people-to-people exchanges fields. Together with Afghanistan, China will work to translate the blueprint of development into tangible outcomes and deliver real benefits to the people, jointly pursue common development, and contribute to regional peace and stability.
