Wang Yiming: Gain a Profound Understanding of the Institutional Advantages Demonstrated by the Five-Year Plan
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "This year marks the concluding year of the 14th Five-Year Plan. While intensifying efforts to implement the goals and tasks of the current plan, we must adapt to changing circumstances, grasp strategic priorities, and scientifically formulate the plan for economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period." Five-year plans are neither unique to China nor a Chinese invention; however, China is the only country that has persisted in the continuous formulation and implementation of these plans. The Five-Year Plan has become a distinctive practice of our country’s socialist modernization, deeply embedded within the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The resulting institutional advantages—upholding the CPC Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership, mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings, combining an effective market with a proactive government, "drawing a single blueprint to the end," and maintaining the "chess game" of the entire nation—have vigorously promoted our country's economic and social development, the growth of comprehensive national strength, and the improvement of the people's lives. These efforts have created the "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, both of which are rare in world history. Looking toward the future, upholding and leveraging the institutional advantages of the Five-Year Plan is of great significance for comprehensively advancing the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.
The Institutional Advantage of Upholding the CPC Central Committee’s Centralized and Unified Leadership
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Using medium- and long-term plans to guide economic and social development is an important way for our Party to govern the country." Since the implementation of the First Five-Year Plan in 1953, our country has consecutively formulated and implemented 14 five-year plans. Upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee ensures that the Party’s strategic intentions are fully reflected during the formulation of the plans; it also ensures that all forces can be effectively mobilized and converged during their implementation. This has provided a strong guarantee for transforming our country from a poverished and weak agricultural nation into the world’s largest manufacturing power and second-largest economy, while marching toward the goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, the basic national condition was "first, poor; second, blank" [1]. The industrial foundation was extremely weak: "We could not build a single car, a single airplane, a single tank, or a single tractor." To change this situation, our Party committed to the grand goal of "transforming China from an agricultural country into an industrial country" and building a backward, large agricultural nation into a socialist industrialized state. In 1951, the CPC Central Committee decided to formulate the First Five-Year Plan, which was implemented in 1953. By establishing and implementing a strategy that prioritized the development of heavy industry and constructing 156 key projects, a preliminary foundation for our country's industrialization was laid. Thereafter, except for the period of national economic adjustment [2], our country consecutively formulated and implemented the Second through Fifth Five-Year Plans. These played an important role in establishing an independent and relatively complete industrial system and national economic system, transforming our country from an agricultural giant into a preliminary industrialized nation.
Following the start of reform and opening up, our Party made new deployments for our country's socialist modernization and clearly proposed the "Three-Step" strategy [3]. The 14th National Congress established the reform goal of building a socialist market economy system. The functions, content, and form of the Five-Year Plan were adjusted accordingly. In the Sixth Five-Year Plan, the "National Economic Plan" was renamed the "National Economic and Social Development Plan," and in the 11th Five-Year Plan, the term "Plan" (jìhuà) was changed to "Guideline" (guīhuà) [4]. The role of the Five-Year Plan in promoting socialist modernization and leading economic and social development became even more prominent. During this period, China's economic development entered the fast lane; its GDP successively surpassed those of Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. In 2010, it surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest economy and entered the ranks of upper-middle-income countries, further consolidating the material foundation for socialist modernization.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era. The 19th National Congress established a strategic deployment to realize the Second Centenary Goal [5] in two stages. The 20th National Congress drew a grand blueprint for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country and achieving the Second Centenary Goal. General Secretary Xi Jinping personally served as the head of the drafting groups for the "Recommendations" for the 13th and 14th Five-Year Plans, personally planning and promoting the formulation of these plans. The recommendations for the 13th Five-Year Plan focused on the goal of finishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and emphasized the necessity of firmly establishing the development concepts of innovation, coordination, green development, openness, and sharing. The recommendations for the 14th Five-Year Plan took high-quality development as the theme and the deepening of supply-side structural reform as the main line. It made systematic arrangements centered on major strategies such as innovation-driven development, industrial upgrading, and green development, providing a manual for action to embark on the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. During this period, under the guidance of the five-year plans, our country's economic strength, technological strength, comprehensive national power, and the people's living standards have reached new heights, opening a brand-new chapter for Chinese-path modernization.
The most essential characteristic of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China; the greatest advantage of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee has played the role of a "calming needle for the sea" [6] in the formulation and implementation of five-year plans. Every time a five-year plan is formulated, the CPC Central Committee issues recommendations, clarifying the guiding principles, main targets, and key tasks for economic and social development, thereby transforming the Party's propositions into the will of the state. During the formulation process, our Party extensively solicits opinions from all sectors of society and fully absorbs the wisdom and will of the people, ensuring the plans reflect expert advice, the wisdom of the masses, and social expectations, thereby building social consensus and stimulating the collective strength of the people. During the implementation process, the Party plays its role in "overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties," ensuring the high-efficiency implementation of the plan. In short, through the Five-Year Plan as a method of state governance, our Party converges the wisdom of the masses to form an unstoppable and majestic force for advancing Chinese-path modernization.
The Institutional Advantage of Mobilizing Resources to Accomplish Major Undertakings
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Our greatest advantage is that our country’s socialist system is capable of mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings. This is an important 'magic weapon' for our achievements." Mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings is a strategic choice for our country to "catch up with the times" and stand tall among the nations of the world. At the beginning of the founding of New China, to change the face of backwardness as quickly as possible, we concentrated limited human, material, and financial resources through the implementation of five-year plans to promote industrialization. Under conditions where the "per capita steel output was only enough to make one sickle," we built an independent and relatively complete industrial and national economic system in a relatively short period. After reform and opening up, resources and forces from all sides were mobilized through the implementation of five-year plans to guarantee the implementation of the "Three-Step" strategy. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan period, our country basically solved the problem of food and clothing for the people; during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period, the people's lives reached a moderately prosperous level overall; during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, our country achieved the leap from a lower-middle-income country to an upper-middle-income country. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the role of the Five-Year Plan in leading economic and social development has become even more prominent. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, decisive achievements were made in the battle to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, laying a solid foundation for the new journey of building a modern socialist country. The 14th Five-Year Plan, which is nearing its conclusion, has guided our country toward steady growth in economic scale, significant improvements in quality, and continuous optimization of structure, pushing the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country to take firm steps forward. It can be said that it is precisely the institutional advantage of mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings that has allowed our country to achieve leapfrog development, completing in decades the industrialization process that took Western developed countries several centuries, thus demonstrating great institutional superiority.
In mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings, "mobilizing resources" is the prerequisite; only by concentrating superior resources can we undertake and complete "major undertakings." Since the founding of New China, the reason our country has been able to achieve a series of major results in large-scale engineering, key technological breakthroughs, targeted poverty alleviation, the promotion of green development, and the prevention and mitigation of major risks lies precisely in leveraging the institutional advantage of mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings. In recent years, in the field of technological innovation, facing "decoupling and breaking chains" and the "small yard, high fence" policies of certain countries, it is by relying on this institutional advantage that we have accelerated the improvement of the New State Mobilization System. By strengthening national strategic technological forces, integrating superior scientific resources, and conducting joint research on key core technologies, our country has achieved a batch of major original results in fields such as quantum technology, life sciences, material sciences, and space science. Our ranking in the Global Innovation Index has jumped to 10th place, and the pace of achieving high-level self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology has significantly accelerated. Currently, as the changes unseen in a century accelerate, and with increasing unstable, uncertain, and unpredictable factors, there is an even greater need to make good use of the institutional advantage of mobilizing resources to accomplish major undertakings.
The Five-Year Plan is an important form for realizing the mobilization of resources to accomplish major undertakings. Following the top-level design of Chinese-path modernization, the Five-Year Plan determines the development goals, key tasks, major projects, and important measures for each five-year period—that is, it clarifies the "major undertakings" of each stage. On this basis, through specialized plans and regional plans, a "construction blueprint" is formed, and resources from all sides are mobilized toward key fields and critical links. This guides the efficient and optimized allocation of various resources and promotes synergistic efforts across society—meeting the requirement to "complete major undertakings." Meanwhile, through the continuous formulation and implementation of five-year plans, the continuity of the Chinese-path modernization process is maintained. By working one five-year period after another, we continuously build the grand edifice of Chinese-path modernization.
The Institutional Advantage of Combining an Effective Market with a Proactive Government
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Medium- and long-term development plans can both give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and better play the role of the government." Since the start of reform and opening up, with the establishment and perfection of the socialist market economy system, the functions, content, and form of the Five-Year Plan have been continuously adjusted and improved alongside the development of the times. In terms of nature, it has shifted from the mandatory plans (zhǐlìngxìng jìhuà) under the early planned economy system to guidance plans (zhǐdǎoxìng jìhuà), and then to strategic, programmatic, and guiding plans (guīhuà) under the socialist market economy system. In terms of philosophy, the focus has shifted from pursuing growth speed to emphasizing development quality, and then further toward promoting the comprehensive development of the person and overall social progress. In terms of content, the focus has shifted from managing microeconomic activities to strengthening strategic guidance over the macroeconomy; it has expanded from purely economic construction to economic and social development, and then to the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan encompassing economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization construction. In terms of indicators, the focus has expanded from primarily economic indicators to incorporating more indicators regarding social, cultural, and green development. In terms of implementation, it has transformed from government-dominated to a combination of an effective market and a proactive government.
The Five-Year Plan is an important institutional carrier for the better combination of an effective market and a proactive government. Since the 14th National Congress of the CPC established the reform goal of a socialist market economy system, every five-year plan has focused on making arrangements for reforming and perfecting that system. For example, the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 emphasized giving full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation while better playing the role of the government to promote their better combination. The Five-Year Plan releases the development concepts, strategic intentions, main goals, key tasks, and major measures of the Party and the state in a unified manner, providing market entities with clear development directions and expectations. The Five-Year Plan unifies development and reform, promoting the combination of development goals with major reform measures; it not only promotes high-quality development through reform but also works to build a high-standard socialist market economy system. The Five-Year Plan accelerates the connectivity of market infrastructure, promotes the improvement of factor market systems and regulations, speeds up the construction of a unified national market, and better leverages the decisive role of the market in allocating resources. It can be said that the Five-Year Plan under the conditions of a socialist market economy is a development plan based on market mechanisms that promotes the better combination of an effective market and a proactive government.
Formulating and implementing five-year plans is an important way for the government to better play its role. The plan is the "outline" (gāng) for medium- and long-term development. It clarifies the state's strategic intentions, defines the government's work priorities, optimizes the allocation of public resources, and guides and regulates the behavior of market entities; it is the government's strategic guidance for economic and social development. Unlike short-term macroeconomic regulation, this guidance is strategic. It is a general deployment for medium- and long-term economic and social development based on national strategic goals and the overall and long-term interests of the country, aimed at shifting the development process from one driven solely by spontaneous market forces to one conducive to the realization of strategic goals. It is precisely through the Five-Year Plan that the government’s "proactiveness" is better leveraged, enabling our country to effectively march toward the goal of comprehensively building a great modern socialist country.
The Institutional Advantage of "Drawing a Single Blueprint to the End"
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out:
"From the First Five-Year Plan to the 14th Five-Year Plan, the consistent theme has been building our country into a modern socialist country." A nation and a people must have common goals for their struggle. The common goal for the Chinese people is to comprehensively build a great modern socialist country and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Five-year plans are a vital means of ensuring the realization of these common goals; they also manifest the institutional advantage of "drawing one blueprint to the end" [7].
"Drawing one blueprint to the end" manifests a strategic resolve that looks to the long term. The Communist Party of China is a party with lofty and firm ideals; it maintains strategic resolve and historical patience, continuously advancing the great cause of national strengthening and ethnic rejuvenation. It is precisely by maintaining this strategic resolve and historical patience that we can avoid being disturbed by "perilous storms and surging waves" [8] or confused by temporary events, and instead march toward set goals. From 1953, when New China began implementing the First Five-Year Plan, to this year, when the 14th Five-Year Plan is nearing completion, the international environment has undergone profound changes for over 70 years, and our country's development path has not been smooth. Yet we have always remained unswerving in implementing one five-year plan after another, pushing forward Chinese-path modernization and fully manifesting the strategic resolve of "drawing one blueprint to the end."
"Drawing one blueprint to the end" manifests a spirit of unremitting struggle. Comprehensively building a great modern socialist country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation cannot be achieved in a single stroke [9]. Implementing five-year plans is a "relay race" on the Long March of the new era; each baton must be passed on, and every runner must achieve good results to set up the next. Looking across the 14 five-year plans (and programs) implemented by our country—from promoting national industrialization to achieving a general level of moderate prosperity [10] for the people, then to the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society and the start of a new journey to comprehensively build a modern socialist country—the five-year plans serve as the markings of history, recording the historical process of Chinese-path modernization. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has united and led the people of all ethnic groups in a common struggle to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society on the lands of China, achieving the First Centenary Goal. We have embarked on the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and, building upon the victorious completion of the 14th Five-Year Plan's goals and tasks, will subsequently implement the 15th Five-Year Plan, marching firmly toward the Second Centenary Goal.
The institutional advantage of persisting in the "national chess game"
In January 2016, at a seminar for provincial and ministerial-level leading officials on studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "To play the 'national chess game' [11] of development during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, coordinated development is the secret of success." In April this year, while presiding over a symposium on economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period for certain provinces, regions, and municipalities, he noted: "We must deeply study effective measures for optimizing regional layouts, promoting regional coordinated development, consolidating and expanding the results of poverty alleviation, promoting comprehensive rural revitalization and urban-rural integrated development, and accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, so as to steadily increase the incomes of urban and rural residents." Persisting in the national chess game requires considering the "needs of the whole," decomposing the overall national development goals into sub-goals of different levels and categories, and implementing them in regional plans to ensure the realization of the macro targets. Simultaneously, it requires accounting for the "capabilities of each region," implementing major regional strategies, encouraging each region to give full play to its comparative advantages, deepening the regional division of labor, and helping each region find its proper positioning to better integrate into the overall national development framework.
Persisting in the national chess game is conducive to enhancing the synergy, connectivity, and integrity of regional development. Our country is vast with significant regional differences. Playing the national chess game of development and promoting a division of labor based on comparative advantages can avoid redundant construction, homogenized competition, and the convergence of industrial structures. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, every five-year plan has attached great importance to playing the national chess game through regional economic layouts. Particularly since the turn of the century, the Party Central Committee has successively implemented strategies such as the Great Western Development, the revitalization of old industrial bases like Northeast China, and the rise of the Central Region.
The outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan explicitly proposed "persisting in the implementation of the overall regional development strategy of promoting the Great Western Development, revitalizing old industrial bases like Northeast China, promoting the rise of the Central Region, and encouraging the Eastern Region to take the lead in development." The outline of the 12th Five-Year Plan further emphasized "implementing the overall regional development strategy." Since the 18th CPC National Congress, while persisting in the implementation of the regional coordinated development strategy, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has promoted the high-quality implementation of major regional strategies, including the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin. These efforts plan regions from a global perspective and serve the whole through regional development, further enhancing regional coordination and promoting the formation of a new pattern for the national chess game of development.
Persisting in the national chess game is conducive to promoting the construction of a unified national market. Constructing a unified national market, clearing the key bottlenecks restricting the economic cycle, and promoting the cross-regional flow of productive factors such as talent, capital, technology, and data can break down local protectionism and market fragmentation. This helps form a regional economic layout characterized by complementary advantages and high-quality development. Through the formulation and implementation of five-year plans, we can build high-standard interconnected market infrastructure, improve modern logistics and commercial circulation systems, and reduce logistics and transaction costs for the whole society. This facilitates the smooth flow of commodities and factor resources on a larger scale, improves market operational efficiency and resource allocation efficiency, better connects domestic and international markets, and provides strong support for constructing the new development pattern.
At present, changes in the world, in our times, and in history are unfolding in unprecedented ways. We carry the mission of scientifically formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan on our shoulders. Facing the future, we must persist in and leverage the institutional advantages of the five-year plans, allowing them to gather the monumental strength of the entire nation to advance the cause of national strengthening and ethnic rejuvenation, pushing Chinese-path modernization toward an even brighter future.