The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development signals a clear shift toward higher-quality, innovation-led growth, while placing the improvement of people’s social well-being at the forefront, said Gerald Mbanda, a Rwandan publisher and researcher.
BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) — With embodied artificial intelligence (AI), brain-computer interfaces and 6G mobile communications featuring prominently in documents released during the “two sessions,” innovation is set to drive China’s high-quality development in the new stage.
Experts around the world highlighted that, driven by quality improvement, technological upgrading and structural optimization, the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) is expected to continue boosting domestic development and channel its innovations into global cooperation.
INNOVATION FOR PEOPLE’S WELL-BEING
The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development signals a clear shift toward higher-quality, innovation-led growth, while placing the improvement of people’s social well-being at the forefront, said Gerald Mbanda, a Rwandan publisher and researcher.
“It is an important indicator that the government leadership puts first the interest of the people,” he said.
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan highlighted “new quality productive forces,” with a focus on scientific advancement, industrial upgrading, and long-term development, said Richard A. Black, a senior scholar with the Schiller Institute.
Black said the plan reflects a view that long-term prosperity depends on a commitment to “the real economy” — manufacturing, infrastructure and energy systems.
Marcela Vera, an economist at Chile’s University of Santiago, said that while innovation in the West tends to be confined to big firms using tech barriers to protect profits, it is widely applied to advance social development and enhance people’s well-being in China.
Citing his experience in China, Dennis Munene Mwaniki, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute in Kenya, said that China has become a leading nation in AI development and integration.
He recalled visiting a hotel where a robot served him, noting that such machines can also handle jobs far too risky for humans, like welding.
He added that China has developed AI capable of detecting some health conditions early, improving the healthcare system and saving lives. It has also been “instrumental” in agriculture, he said, helping cultivate crops resistant to harsh conditions, delivering people from hunger and starvation.
INNOVATION FOR SHARING
Experts pointed out that the policy priorities unveiled at the “two sessions” further cemented China’s role as a global innovation hub while creating major opportunities for global cooperation.
Mwaniki said that China’s AI has been effectively applied through international cooperation and partnerships, noting that the country has worked with African countries to breed climate-resilient crops in regions where people are dying from hunger.
Ismael Buchanan, a senior lecturer at the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Rwanda, expressed a similar view.
“I believe African countries could greatly benefit from learning from Five-Year Plans launched by the Chinese government,” he said, suggesting that they strengthen trade and partnerships with China, a path many are already actively pursuing.
European countries are also closely following the “two sessions,” looking forward to sealing some deals.
“For the outside world, especially for Europe, it is important to see where the new space for China’s further growth lies,” said Marina Ragus, deputy speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia.
Ragus said that China’s “sustained investment in innovation, advanced production lines and automation” has driven structural transformation, generated employment and improved living standards.
Clemens Schuette, chairman of the board of the German-Chinese Business Association, said China has evolved from “a low-cost manufacturing base into a major market and an important innovation hub,” citing BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens and BASF as examples of companies expanding local research and engineering capacities in China.
German firms are increasingly recognizing China’s role as a global innovation leader, he noted. “Many companies are expanding cooperation with Chinese partners not only to remain competitive in China but also to benefit globally,” he said.
Satyajit Bose, professor of Practice at Columbia University, praised China’s role in expanding the global reach of clean energy. The 15th Five-Year Plan’s emphasis on “high-quality development” demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that growth must incorporate environmental sustainability and structural upgrading, Bose said.
Describing renewable energy as a “promising part of Chinese development,” he noted that falling solar production costs have made clean power more accessible to lower-income countries and created opportunities for longer-term cooperation.■
