China sets priorities for 2026 and beyond at the Two Sessions

BEIJING, March 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from Beijing Review:

With the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) kicking off in 2026, this year's Two Sessions—the annual meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), from March 4 to 12—have drawn significant attention for the policy signals sent.

These crucial gatherings, making decisions and suggestions on everything from the five-year plan and legal system to social welfare and foreign policy, provided an open window through which to view China's policy direction for the year ahead and the next five years.

This year, the NPC deliberated on the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for national economic and social development, while the CPPCC National Committee engaged in thorough consultations and offered suggestions regarding the draft, together formulating the nation's development vision.

China has set its economic growth target at 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year and will strive for better in practice, according to the government work report that was submitted to the country's top legislature for deliberation.

"The shift to a target range rather than a single figure affords Beijing greater flexibility to balance growth with broader socioeconomic priorities. It reduces pressure on local governments to chase high headline numbers at the expense of quality, and creates space to pursue structural reforms, build a unified national market, and advance economic transformation," Yan Liang, Chair Professor of Economics at Willamette University in the U.S., told Beijing Review.

This year's report placed the expansion of domestic demand at the forefront of the 2026 governmental tasks.

"China will formulate and implement plans to boost incomes, rolling out a series of practical measures to boost earnings for low-income groups, increase residents' property income, and improve social security systems," according to the report.

"In the past, Chinese residents' consumption was primarily focused on basic needs such as adequate food and clothing. However, current consumption demands are upgrading. This is not only reflected in the quality improvement of goods consumption but, more significantly, the scale expansion and structural optimization of service consumption," Liu Shangxi, a CPPCC National Committee member and a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, told Beijing Review.

Issues relating to living standards have consistently remained a central focus of the Two Sessions.

Employment serves as the direct path to increased income and is foundational to public wellbeing. The government work report set clear targets for the year: creating 12 million new urban jobs and keeping the urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 percent.

Education remains fundamental to both individual wellbeing and national development. China will adjust the allocation of educational resources in response to structural changes occurring in school-age populations. It will upgrade basic education and make coordinated efforts to develop balanced, quality compulsory education and inclusive, quality preschool education.

As China's elderly population surpasses 300 million and the aging trend deepens, senior care has become increasingly prominent. Specific measures in the national strategy response to population aging include increasing the supply of not-for-profit elderly care services and improving elderly care services in rural areas, granting elderly care service vouchers to seniors affected by moderate or more severe functional impairments and refining supportive policies for products designed for seniors, pension finance, and seniors' seasonal relocation for wellness and care.

The report also outlined measures to foster positive attitudes toward marriage and childbearing. The government will boost housing support for first-time married couples and those with their first child, and help families with children meet their needs for better housing. 

Regarding international engagement, Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister, said at a press conference on March 8 that China will expand high-standard opening up as not only "the world's factory" but also "the world's market." "China is strongly committed to supporting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, keeping global industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, upholding the World Trade Organization-centered multilateral trading system, and defending a fair and open economic and trade order. The world can count on China to deliver new contributions to strong and sustainable global growth," Wang said.

SOURCE Beijing Review