China set to release new five-year plan at National People’s Congress

Beijing is expected to set a growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent for 2026 at this week’s NPC.

China is set to unveil a sweeping economic agenda for the next five years during a meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) over the next week at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026 to 2030 will be released during the NPC, one of China’s most important political meetings of the year, which starts on Thursday in Beijing and typically runs for a week, drawing 3,000 delegates from across China.

The last five-year plan was released in March 2021, as Beijing tackled the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This time around, analysts say, China’s leaders will need to explain their approach to new challenges, from the economic fallout of United States President Donald Trump’s trade war to the stalling of consumer confidence at home.

The NPC runs in parallel to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which began on Wednesday, and together, they are known as the “Two Sessions”.