New development philosophy charts China's path to modernization

BEIJING -- As the world navigates profound challenges, China is charting a steady course toward modernization under a new development philosophy that steers high-quality growth and opens up fresh opportunities for the global community.

First introduced in 2015, the new development philosophy -- featuring innovation, coordination, green development, openness and shared benefits, has over the past decade anchored China through domestic and global headwinds, driving sustained progress.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), China's economy has maintained solid expansion, with total output first surpassing 110 trillion yuan (about $15.5 trillion), then 120 trillion yuan and later 130 trillion yuan. Total output is projected to reach around 140 trillion yuan in 2025. Contributing roughly 30 percent to global growth each year, China has stood out as an "oasis of certainty" in an uncertain world.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has recently released its recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), a key document that lays out the guiding principles for the country's development in the coming period. It underscores the need to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy to steer the nation's next phase of growth.

INNOVATION-LED GROWTH

At the Seres smart factory in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, two new energy vehicles (NEVs) roll off the assembly line every minute -- a snapshot of how technology and innovation are reshaping China's industrial landscape.

China has ranked first globally in NEV production and sales for 10 consecutive years. The country has emerged as a global frontrunner in new-energy technologies and equipment, accounting for more than 40 percent of the world's related patents.

As China upgrades its manufacturing sector, it is adding momentum in strategic emerging industries to drive transformation, exemplified by its rise from a follower to a global leader in the new energy vehicle industry.

From individual enterprises to entire industries and the broader economy, the new development philosophy has injected powerful impetus into high-quality growth.

China's overall competitiveness has advanced markedly. In the Global Innovation Index, the country has risen from 34th in 2012 to 10th in 2025, becoming one of the world's fastest-improving innovators. Nationwide research and development spending reached 3.6 trillion yuan last year, the second highest in the world.

Over the next five years, China will continue to apply its new development philosophy to foster high-quality growth. "Significantly enhancing self-reliance and strength in science and technology" was listed among the major goals in the recommendations for the next five-year plan.

Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun said China will work to deepen the integration of scientific and industrial innovation in the coming five years. Key tasks include strengthening original innovation and core technology breakthroughs, channeling more innovation resources toward enterprises, and accelerating the efficient application of major scientific and technological breakthroughs.

GREEN TRANSITION PATH

In the Kubuqi Desert of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, millions of solar panels glint under the sun, forming a vast "sea of energy." From here, green electricity flows eastward through ultra-high-voltage transmission lines, lighting up homes in eastern city clusters thousands of kilometers away.

Along just one of these routes, from Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia to Taizhou in the eastern Jiangsu province, more than 12 billion kilowatt-hours of green power are transmitted every year.

China's installed capacity for wind and solar power now accounts for nearly half of the global total. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, exports of Chinese wind and solar products are expected to help other countries cut carbon emissions by about 4.1 billion tonnes.

The country has built the world's largest renewable energy system. In the first four years of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by a cumulative 11.6 percent.

China has vowed to accelerate green transition across the board and build a Beautiful China in the coming five years, according to goals listed in the recommendations for the next five-year plan.

Over the next five years, carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals will act as a major driver for China to advance coordinated efforts in cutting emissions, reducing pollution, expanding green development and promoting growth, and to cultivate a new economic engine built on green, low-carbon and circular development, said Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

In recent years, western regions of China such as the Kubuqi Desert area have recorded faster growth than the east, demonstrating the coordinated development championed by the new development philosophy. Coordinated development is expected to be further advanced over the next five years.

OPENING UP FOR SHARED BENEFITS

At a duty-free store at Haikou Meilan International Airport in South China, Zhang Lu browsed shelves lined with the latest cosmetics. "In the past, if I wanted new beauty products, I either had to contact overseas agents to shop for me or find a chance to travel overseas myself. Now, I just book a flight to Hainan, and the prices there are even better," Zhang said.

Her experience captures a broader shift in China's consumer landscape. Hainan province's offshore duty-free policy, a key move in terms of institutional opening up, has become a vibrant symbol of China's new development model. This emerging hub in the country's south has opened a window of opportunity for global luxury names to share in China's vast market.

Even amid global headwinds and rising protectionism, China's door to the world remains wide open, and continues to open wider. All foreign investment restrictions in manufacturing have now been scrapped, while the services sector is steadily opening up. By the end of June 2025, China had utilized $708.73 billion of foreign investment during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and established 22 pilot free trade zones across the country.

Recommendations for the next five-year plan include a dedicated section on expanding high-standard opening up, calling for opening wider to the outside world, promoting innovative trade development and expanding two-way investment cooperation. It sends a strong signal underlining China's commitment to openness, cooperation and mutual benefit.

Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said China seeks to advance balanced growth in imports and exports in the coming five years by actively expanding imports, improving import trade facilitation and fostering national demonstration zones for innovative import promotion.

The recommendations also stress making solid headway in promoting common prosperity for all, which aligns with the principle of shared development, a key element of the new development philosophy. The document further outlines measures to promote high-quality and sufficient employment, improve the income distribution system, enhance the social security system, and ensure more equitable access to basic public services.

As China advances on its modernization journey, the new development philosophy will remain both the ballast and the engine of China's economic vessel, enabling it to seize new opportunities amid challenges and sustain resilience and vitality in pursuing high-quality development.