（by H.E. Tong Defa, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana）
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held from 20th to 23rd October, 2025, and laid out the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026-2030), setting out a top-level design and strategic plan for China’s development over the next five years. It serves as yet another overarching blueprint and call to action for further advancing Chinese modernization, and writes a new chapter in the miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.
- Policy Consistency: A Stable China Provides Certainty to the Volatile World
Formulating medium-term and long-term plans to guide economic and social development is an important means and advantage by which the CPC governs the country. From the first to the 14th Five-Year Plan, the CPC focuses on the goal of modernization and has formed a Chinese path to modernization, making its governance an anchor of stability in the world and a reliable engine of global growth.
In the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the world faces profound and intricate changes. Yet, the Chinese economy has a solid foundation, advantages in many areas, strong resilience, and great potential. The conditions for and underlying trend of China’s long-term growth remain unchanged. More and more, we are seeing the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China’s enormous market, complete industrial system, and abundant human resources all coming to the fore.
The Session, seizing the historical initiative to overcome difficulties, combat risks, and confront challenges, opens up new horizons for Chinese modernization and continues to inject stability into the world’s prosperity and development.
- Scientific Innovation: New Quality Productive Forces Contributes to Technological Progress of Humanity
The 15th Five-Year Plan defines the promotion of high-quality development as the main focus, and highlights the guiding role of scientific and technological innovation. It makes overall plans for modernizing the industrial system, boosting self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and accelerating the green transition across the board. It proposes to foster emerging and future industries, boost full integration between technological and industrial innovation, and advance the Digital China Initiative.
The Plan contains new mandates including raising comprehensive innovation capacity, advancing the AI+ Initiative, and facilitating AI empowerment in all sectors on all fronts, as well as new requirements such as fostering a new pattern of development, improving living standards while increasing consumer spending, and combining investment in physical assets with investment in human capital. The Plan is a blueprint for development and also a new chapter in reform, which will foster new quality productive forces that contributes to technological exchanges, cooperation and progress of humanity.
III. High-Standard Opening Up: China Shares Opportunities with the Rest of the World and Promotes Common Development
Opening up and cooperation for mutual benefit are integral to Chinese modernization. The Plan proposes promoting high-standard opening up and creating new horizons for mutually beneficial cooperation. It includes to expand opening up at the institutional level, safeguard the multilateral trading system, promote broader international economic flows, and draw momentum from opening up to propel reform and development.
China will expand market access and open up more areas, in particular in the service sector, and unilaterally open up more sectors to more regions. China will work faster to facilitate regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements, and expand its network of high-standard free trade areas. China will pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, enhancing connectivity in terms of both infrastructure as well as rules and standards, fostering closer bonds with the people in Belt and Road partner countries.
- Conclusion
This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ghana. In October, President John Dramani Mahama attended the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing and held bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
President Xi Jinping stressed that China always follows the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith, and takes the right approach to friendship and interests in carrying out cooperation with Africa. China firmly supports Ghana in pursuing a path toward modernization suited to its national conditions, and is ready to work with Ghana to jointly implement the outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit and take cooperation in various fields to a higher level.
China will provide another 200 million RMB grant (30 million USD) to Ghana, and the two sides have also reached consensus in principle on the early harvest arrangements of the agreement on economic partnership for shared development. Ghana will be among the first countries to benefit from the zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines China offered to African countries that have diplomatic relations.
The Chinese path to modernization belongs to China as well as the world; it is the road for China’s rejuvenation, and also the path to humanity progress and world harmony. Guided by the spirit of the Plenary Session and with the 15th Five-Year Plan as its blueprint, China will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with Ghana and all countries around the world, to stride forward in building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Share Us
