Characteristics of China's Fiver-year Plan

Hi,

Many China hands are waiting to see what will be written into China’s 15th Five-year Plan, which will come out later this year. Qiushi published an article by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党中央委员会党史和文献研究院), which summarized the main characteristics of China’s five-year plans.

The article is titled “Formulate and continue to implement medium- and long-term plans in a scientific manner.” (《科学制定和接续实施中长期规划》) Please check this link if you would like to read the full text in Chinese.

Qiushi also carried excerpts from Xi Jinping’s speeches and instructions on using medium- and long-term plans to guide economic and social development during the period from October 2015 to April 2025 one day earlier with the title of “Using medium- and long-term plans to guide economic and social development is an important way for our Party to govern the country.” ( 《用中长期规划指导经济社会发展是我们党治国理政的一种重要方式》)

Xi Jinping said that: "Guiding economic and social development with medium- and long-term plans is an important way for our Party to govern the country." The article listed several characteristics of China’s five-year plans.

First, the theme remains consistent. From the implementation of the First Five-Year Plan to the 14th Five-Year Plan, China has taken detours and encountered unexpected difficulties and setbacks, but the theme of building China into a socialist modern country has never changed, nor has our will and determination wavered, the article wrote.

Second, understanding has been continuously deepened. Medium- and long-term plans (this is the Chinese expression of five-year plan translated into English) outline the grand blueprint for Chinese-style modernization. The Party has promoted the gradual realization of this blueprint, further deepening the understanding of the connotation and essence of Chinese-style modernization, initially constructing a theoretical system of Chinese-style modernization, and making Chinese-style modernization clearer, more scientific, and more tangible and feasible.

Third, the content has become increasingly enriched. Starting from the Sixth Five-Year Plan in 1981, social development was placed in a prominent position, and the five-year plan was renamed from the "National Economic Development Plan" to the "National Economic and Social Development Plan". Since then, it has been continuously enriched and expanded, evolving into a comprehensive plan for the overall development of the country.

Fourth, the procedures have been more perfected. Starting from the Seventh Five-Year Plan in 1986, the practice of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China putting forward suggestions for formulating the five-year plan before the reform and opening up was resumed. Since then, a system arrangement has gradually taken shape under the centralized and unified leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in which the Central Plenary Session puts forward planning suggestions, the State Council formulates the planning outline, and the National People's Congress examines and approves it before announcing and implementing it to the public.

Fifth, the positioning has become more scientific. With the establishment and improvement of the socialist market economic system, the main indicators of economic and social development in medium- and long-term plans have gradually shifted to being predictive and guiding. Starting from the 11th Five-Year Plan period in 2006, the five-year "plan"(计划） was renamed the five-year "program"（规划）. This one-character change reflects that under the socialist market economy, the functional positioning of medium- and long-term plans has paid more attention to being macro-oriented, strategic, and guiding.

The article concluded that through the continuous implementation of 14 medium- and long-term plans (programs), it has strongly promoted economic and social development, the enhancement of comprehensive national strength, and the improvement of people's lives, created two miracles rarely seen in the world: rapid economic development and long-term social stability, opened up a new realm of governance, and made the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation an irreversible historical process.

The following is a picture of the first Five-year Plan issued in 1955.