Capital city targets 5% GDP growth for 2026

Beijing has set an ambitious goal for 2026, aiming for a GDP growth of more than 5 percent after becoming one of two Chinese cities to reach a GDP of 5 trillion yuan ($717 billion) in 2025, Mayor Yin Yong said on Sunday.

Delivering the government work report during the city's annual two sessions, Yin said Beijing will deepen coordinated development with Tianjin and Hebei province and push science and technology innovation to new heights in 2026, the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–30).

Statistics show that 689 companies relocated from Beijing to register in the Binhai-Zhongguancun science park last year in Tianjin's Binhai New Area. The transaction value of technology contracts exported from Beijing to Tianjin and Hebei reached 99.6 billion yuan, up 18.1 percent during that period.

Significant breakthroughs were made in key industrial sectors such as biopharmaceuticals, and construction of a new energy vehicle eco-port was launched in the region.

"This year, we will focus on improving the efficiency of the regional technological innovation mechanism," Yin said. "We will roll out a series of initiatives to take the lead in basic research and tackle key core technologies, strengthening strategic scientific and technological forces such as national laboratories in Beijing."

New research and innovation platforms will be established in areas that include brain-computer interfaces and high-temperature superconductors, he said.

Looking ahead, Beijing plans to further strengthen local innovation infrastructure and advance research in key areas such as Zhongguancun, the city's flagship science park, which will prioritize development of the artificial intelligence sector. The Huairou National Comprehensive Science Center will promote high-end scientific equipment manufacturing, while the accelerated development of the Nankou and Machikou national-level key centers and a science town in Changping district is expected to improve the transfer of industrial achievements.

Lin Jianhua, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, said Beijing is launching an "AI Plus" initiative to expand the role of artificial intelligence in supporting sectors including quantum technology, commercial aerospace and biopharmaceuticals.

"This will foster new engines of industrial growth," Lin said.

Quality-of-life improvements were also in the spotlight in Beijing last year, and new supportive measures for the elderly are expected to be announced during the two sessions this week.

Li Fengqin, a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Shijingshan district medical insurance bureau, shared a story during the sessions highlighting the impact of improved government services.

An elderly man in his late 60s made a special trip last year to present a banner of gratitude to the bureau, Li said.

"With tears in his eyes, he held my hand tightly and told me how his mother, who was over 90 and had been unable to bathe for more than four years because of her disability, finally received help," Li said.

The district's long-term care insurance agency, equipped with professional tools, had visited the family's home and resolved the problem, allowing the elderly woman to live with greater dignity. Li said she could truly feel the helplessness the man had experienced before.

The long-term care insurance program, often described as a "sixth type" of social insurance, was designed to address China's rapidly aging population. The program has been piloted in the Shijingshan district for six years and is expected to expand to more regions in Beijing and across China.