China on Thursday unveiled major development targets for the 2026-2030 period as part of a government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang.

This year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and a draft outline of the plan for national economic and social development was submitted to the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress for review.

While the 2026 GDP growth target was set at 4.5 percent to 5 percent, economic growth over the next five years will be kept "within an appropriate range" with annual growth rates to be determined in light of actual conditions, according to the report delivered by the premier.

This will lay a solid foundation for achieving the goal of doubling China's 2020 per capita GDP by 2035 to reach the level of a moderately developed country, the report said.

To ensure effective implementation of the objectives and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Beijing proposed a total of 109 major projects in six areas, ranging from steering the development of new quality productive forces to ensuring and improving public well-being, the report said.

To pursue innovation-led and green development, China is projecting an annual average increase of at least 7 percent in nationwide research and development spending, and envisages a total reduction of 17 percent in carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP between 2026 and 2030.

The report said China will nurture emerging industries and industries of the future, such as future energy, quantum technology, embodied artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces and 6G technology.

Beijing will encourage technological innovations in areas including multi-modal AI, AI agent, embodied AI and swarm intelligence, and explore development paths of artificial general intelligence.

"We will ensure we got off to a good start in the 15th Five-Year Plan period," Li told some 2,800 delegates at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

"In proposing these targets, we have considered the need to leave some room for structural adjustments, risk prevention and reform in the opening year of this five-year plan period, so as to lay the solid foundation for delivering better performance in the coming years.

"The GDP growth target is well aligned with our long range objectives through the year 2035, and also in line with the long-term growth potential of China's economy."



Edited by Edmond Fong