Practical blueprint for growth and stability amid headwinds: China Daily editorial

In a world grappling with sluggish growth, geopolitical tension and policy whiplash, China's 2026 Government Work Report offers predictability and certainty.

Delivered by Premier Li Qiang to the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, at its annual gathering in Beijing on Thursday, the report sets a pragmatic GDP growth target of 4.5-5 percent for this year and presents main objectives and major tasks for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period featuring multiple key indicators.

After a 5 percent expansion in 2025 lifted the GDP to 140.19 trillion yuan ($20.4 trillion), policymakers are signaling that resilience is the focus. The 2026 growth target leaves room for structural adjustment, risk control and reform in the first year of the new five-year plan period, while keeping China on track toward its 2035 goal of doubling the 2020 per capita GDP.

Crucially, the target is set on the basis of a comprehensive balancing of various factors and supported by well-planned actions. The deficit-to-GDP ratio is set at around 4 percent, with a headline fiscal deficit of 5.89 trillion yuan. General public budget expenditure will exceed 30 trillion yuan for the first time. Authorities will issue 1.3 trillion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds to fund national strategies and equipment upgrades, alongside 4.4 trillion yuan in local government special-purpose bonds to support projects, replace hidden debts and clear arrears.

This dynamic, targeted policy portfolio ensures timely support for the most needy sectors and drives structural transformation across the entire economic system — underpinning stronger foundational stability, safeguarding national security, and enhancing overall competitiveness in tandem. For example, some 250 billion yuan from special treasury bonds will support consumer goods trade-in programs. Another 200 billion yuan will fund industrial equipment upgrades. Policy-backed financial instruments worth 800 billion yuan are designed to stimulate private sector investment. The emphasis on forward-looking, collective and expert-based scientific decision-making, along with strengthened policy coordination that prioritizes implementation, accountability and adaptive adjustment, will serve as a vital ballast for development.

The main objectives and major tasks for the new five-year plan period reinforce that signal. Rather than locking in a rigid medium-term growth figure, the plan opts for flexibility — GDP should grow within an appropriate range, with annual targets calibrated to conditions. This creates the space to fully leverage the policy toolkit.

In innovation, the objectives are concrete. Nationwide R&D spending is targeted to rise by at least 7 percent annually on average, sustaining momentum after R&D reached 2.8 percent of GDP in 2025. The value added of core industries of the digital economy is set to increase to 12.5 percent of GDP. These goals build on the past year when high-tech manufacturing expanded 9.4 percent, equipment manufacturing by 9.2 percent, and industrial robot output surged 28 percent.

Equally prominent is the social equity ledger. The draft outline of the new five-year plan aims to raise the average years of schooling among the working-age population to 11.7 and life expectancy to 80 years. Long-term care insurance already covers 300 million people. In 2025, 12.67 million new urban jobs were created; for 2026, the goal is more than 12 million, with the surveyed unemployment rate around 5.5 percent.

Notably, environmental metrics are embedded alongside economic ones. Carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP are targeted to fall about 3.8 percent in 2026 and 17 percent over the five-year period. The green transition is a driver of growth, not a drag on it.

The report shows that a system capable of mobilizing resources nationwide, aligning fiscal, monetary and industrial levers, and embedding efficiency and equity into its planning can deliver predictability. For global investors and policymakers, the size of the Chinese economy makes a 4.5-5 percent growth band look remarkable. In a turbulent world economy, a $20 trillion-plus system expanding at that pace — while raising R&D, upgrading industry, broadening social protection and cutting carbon intensity — exerts gravitational pull.

The more than 100 major projects outlined for the 2026-30 period — spanning advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure, green transition and public services — further clarify direction. They are designed not only to sustain demand but to reshape supply, from frontier technologies to elderly care capacity.

None of this ignores the risks. That candor, paired with quantified targets and sequenced tasks, is part of the message of the report.

The deeper significance is not just about a single year's number. It is the road map: goals quantified, tasks listed, timelines clarified. It conveys that policy is not lurching from headline to headline but proceeding along a charted course. In today's uncertain times, that alone carries weight.