An aerial drone photo taken on Dec 2, 2025 shows container ships berthing at the Meishan port area of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Xinhua]

This year marks the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, which is expected to inject fresh vitality into and strengthen China's strategic role in advancing multilateralism. The plan also seeks to guide the country's 1.4 billion people toward achieving the nation's medium — to long-term development goals.

The plan comes amid a global environment in which politics of isolationism, unilateralism and protectionism has escalated, leading to market volatility.

Despite this geopolitical instability, China's economy has remained resilient.

In 2025, China's gross domestic product grew 5 percent, while employment remained stable, with 12.67 million urban jobs created. Foreign investment increased due to a 19.1 percent increase in the number of newly established foreign-funded enterprises.

Furthermore, export trade diversified significantly, recording growth of 6.1 percent.

China's economy has also been strengthened through innovation-driven and high-quality development. New quality productive forces have grown steadily, accompanied by breakthroughs in the application of artificial intelligence, biomedicine, robotics and quantum technology, as well as advances in chip technology.

For instance, new energy vehicle output exceeded 16 million units, and the number of electric vehicle charging facilities topped 20 million last year.

In addition, research and development spending nationwide increased at an annual average rate of 10 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, and the number of high-value invention patents reached 16 per 10,000 people last year. These developments have further strengthened the resilience and security of China's industrial and supply chains.

Furthermore, China's strategic opening-up policy has deepened its economic integration, championing true multilateralism.

Through unilateral visa-free entry policies and comprehensive mutual visa exemptions, China's tourism industry was expanded. Domestic tourist trips increased 16.2 percent, while inbound tourism rose 17.1 percent last year.

This notwithstanding, without peace there is no development and without development there is no peace.

With this in mind, China has made significant efforts to safeguard national security and social stability. Robust measures have also been taken to prevent and crack down on illegal and criminal activities in accordance with the law.

These efforts have enabled China to accomplish all 20 major targets, 17 major strategic tasks and 102 major projects set forth in the outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Thus, as China continues positioning itself to achieve the nation's second centenary goal (to turn China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by the time the People's Republic of China celebrates its centenary in 2049), the 15th Five-Year Plan has emerged as a game changer.

The economic and social development plan will promote high-quality development, strengthen the domestic economy, and ensure that both development and security in the food, energy and resources sectors are protected to advance prosperity for all.

A total of 109 major projects are scheduled to be implemented over the next five years under the plan. These projects will focus on developing new quality productive forces, modernizing infrastructure systems, promoting integrated urban-rural development, improving public well-being, advancing green and low-carbon transitions, and strengthening food and energy security.

These major projects are critical to China's current and long-term development, and they involve both physical investment and institutional building. In proposing these targets, China has also strategically considered the need to leave room for structural adjustments, risk prevention and reform during the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, in order to lay a solid foundation for stronger performance in the years ahead.

Beyond illuminating its own economic growth, China continues to support other countries in pursuing modernization.

Through the provision of global public goods such as the Belt and Road Initiative, China has helped countries in the Global South, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to enjoy high-quality infrastructure development. China has also provided concessional loans and grants, aimed at fostering South-South cooperation and providing additional options to complement traditional Western aid mechanisms. These efforts include the creation of financial mechanisms such as the New Development Bank and the Silk Road Fund.

For China, its resilient economy is not unilateral, but rather is about shared prosperity. Thus, the 15th Five-Year Plan will not only advance economic and social development within China, but also help rejuvenate many economies around the world, especially at a time when the global community is facing complex and interconnected crises.

The author is executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Nairobi-based Africa Policy Institute.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.