Chers Gold Voice | How Stable Is China's Economy?

Currently, the international situation is turbulent, with regional conflicts escalating and energy markets fluctuating. Uncertainty has become the norm. Against this backdrop, many are concerned: as a major contributor to the global economy and a stabilizing anchor, can China’s economy remain steady?

Through the window of the National Two Sessions, the answer is clear and firm: China’s economy is not only stable but also solid and enduring. This stability makes China a rare “oasis of certainty” in a turbulent world.

— The stability of China’s economy lies in long-term strategic planning and long-termism.

True stability comes from understanding time.

At the 2026 National Two Sessions, two important agendas reveal China’s “long-termism.”

— Reviewing the draft of the National Development Planning Law. This marks a historic leap: China has officially elevated its experience of development driven by five-year plans over the past seventy years to a national law.

Transforming valuable experience into legal norms, turning governance wisdom into institutional compliance, and using the rigidity of the rule of law to ensure the country’s long-term strategies and policies.

— Examining the draft of the 14th Five-Year Plan. A close reading shows that high-quality development remains the clear theme, continuing the spirit of the 14th Five-Year Plan. Keywords like technological innovation, green development, and people’s well-being evoke familiarity and new expectations.

Goals are written into the plan, projects are grounded on the land. Looking toward the Taklamakan Desert, after more than 40 years of continuous efforts, by the end of 2024, the 3,046-kilometer desert “edge-locking belt” will be fully connected. But this is not the end; it is a larger comma, moving from “edge-locking” to “expanding,” as China’s sand control efforts never cease.

— The stability of China’s economy also depends on the continuity of macro governance.

No great undertaking can be completed in a single effort. Breaking long-term goals into phased, actionable, and verifiable tasks, planning carefully before acting, and executing effectively are the wisdom for steady and far-reaching progress.

Through setting economic growth targets, we can understand the wisdom of China’s macro governance.

The draft of the 14th Five-Year Plan sets the GDP growth target as “maintaining within a reasonable range, with annual targets proposed as appropriate, laying a solid foundation for doubling per capita GDP by 2035 and reaching the level of moderately developed countries.”

This goal continues the tradition of the previous plan, using qualitative statements with embedded quantitative requirements.

This goal keeps pace with the times. “Doubling” implies a stable expectation of annual GDP growth over the next decade, aligning with China’s long-term positive economic trend; “laying a solid foundation” demonstrates proactive and pragmatic spirit, aiming for better results in the 15th Five-Year Plan and laying a more solid foundation for the 16th Five-Year Plan.

Looking at the government work report, the GDP growth target for this year is set at 4.5%–5%, also signaling a proactive effort to achieve better results. The range of 4.5%–5% connects short-term plans with medium- and long-term goals, leaving ample room for risk prevention, structural adjustment, and transformation this year.

The clever design of these two indicators links annual plans with medium- and long-term goals, connecting national planning with local practices. What should be stable is stable; what should advance is actively progressing. This balanced governance rhythm is the confidence behind a great nation’s steady progress.

— The stability of China’s economy also depends on policy consistency.

The vitality of a plan lies in its implementation, and the key to implementation is aligned orientation.

Looking at the draft of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2026 government work report, “people-centered” is the core of all policies.

In response to urgent public needs such as elderly care, employment, income growth, and housing security, the government work report makes precise responses: “Supporting conditions for pilot programs of primary and secondary schools’ spring and autumn vacations,” “Implementing subsidies for elderly care services for moderately to severely disabled seniors,” “Strengthening housing security for newly married and new parents, supporting multi-child families to improve housing needs”…

The draft of the 14th Five-Year Plan sets clear goals: synchronizing residents’ income growth with economic growth, increasing labor remuneration and productivity simultaneously, raising average life expectancy to 80 years, and achieving 3.7 practicing physicians per thousand people…

These detailed “checklists” form a governance closed loop of “the people’s calls, my responses.” Consistency in policies and coordination across levels stabilize public expectations and strengthen social confidence.

In a world of intertwined chaos, China’s economic stability is a precious certainty and an opportunity for openness to the world.

“This is a development opportunity ‘list’ for the world,” “The 14th Five-Year Plan is not only China’s future development blueprint but also an important reference coordinate for the Global South,” international media comment.

In the midst of global turbulence and change, seeking stability for prosperity and development is a dream for many. China is steadily advancing toward its grand vision of modernization with Chinese characteristics and building a community with a shared future for mankind, step by step, phase by phase.