Editorial | As China drafts another five-year plan, it must brace for challenges
Amid domestic and global headwinds, national development won’t be easy. Hong Kong can help serve Beijing’s development goals
The Politburo meeting, chaired by President Xi Jinping, reviewed a draft of the 15th five-year plan, which must be approved by the plenum that will be attended by more than 370 members of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. Then it will go to the annual National People’s Congress meeting in March for final endorsement.
China’s national development, a centrepiece of the plan, faces significant challenges. Progress can be hostage to issues like global economic uncertainties and supply chain disruptions. In that regard, consumer confidence and domestic spending are critical to sustainable economic expansion. Consumption accounted for 56.6 per cent of China’s gross domestic product in 2024 – 17 percentage points below the world average according to the World Bank. It is good that China has expanded social welfare programmes that can support consumption. There is room for fiscal spending to shift towards people’s livelihoods and growth in demand for services.
Amid geopolitical uncertainty, domestic economic stability is imperative. A case in point is supply chains. Beijing is expected to consolidate supply chain resilience while addressing choke points in hi-tech areas.