China has a very peculiar way of establishing its roadmap towards its great objective, which is none other than become the first world powerand here technological mastery is crucial. They do it through a very communist tradition: the five-year plans that they started. China already has its new plan for the period 2026-2030 and it is the most ambitious to date.
The 15th five-year plan. China started this five-year plan in 1953, so this is the fifteenth. It was approved at the beginning of the month and it details the roadmap for the next five years. The main objective of the plan is to reinforce China’s comprehensive security in the face of extreme scenarios, ensuring economic, energy and military resilience while maintaining the ability to compete in advanced technology.
The technologies of the future. With the ‘Made in China 2025’ planChina set out to lead in thirteen strategic technologies with quite good results. In its new plan, China establishes the priority strategic technologies for the next five years:
Yes, but. China’s ambition is undeniable, but whether they are going to achieve all these objectives is another matter. They count in The Economist that, in the past, China has managed to lead in technologies that were already mature, such as renewable energy or electric vehicle batteries, but has had more difficulties in complex areas such as advanced chips. This new commitment includes many technologies far from the sectors where they already dominate and for which there are still many unknowns, both technical and commercial.
Economic growth. It is another of the axes on which the plan is based, although for this they are given time until 2035. The government wants to increase the GDP per capita, which is currently at 14,000 dollars, to at least 20 or 30,000 dollars. To achieve this, they would need to grow between 4 and 8% annually over the next decade. The Chinese economy has started 2026 somewhat better, but it takes time in decelerationso it’s going to be complicated.
China prepares for war. Perhaps it is the most overlooked part of the new plan, but the one that makes the most sense in such a turbulent geopolitical scenario. China wants to ensure that it is strong on all fronts, a kind of “whatever may happen.” To achieve this, they want to create strategic industrial zones in inland areas and ensure food and energy self-sufficiency. Furthermore, in the field of defense, they want to prepare for war scenarios with unmanned and intelligent weapons and reinforce border security.
Image | Pycril
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