As China gears up for its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), finance is taking center stage as the strategic spine driving high-quality development, technological innovation and national security.
In October, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee outlined a bold vision: finance must evolve beyond funding growth to become the cornerstone of the real economy. The message echoed at the 2025 Beijing Financial Street Forum, where global experts called for innovation consensus, accelerated reforms and a more resilient, inclusive financial system.
Three priorities will define the next five years:
- Modernize market infrastructure for risk sharing and transparent price discovery to finance long-cycle, high-variance innovation
- Align finance with national strategies by scaling technology, green, inclusive, pension and digital finance
- Shift openness from joining to shaping through tools like Payment Connect linking the Chinese mainland’s IBPS and Hong Kong’s FPS, and enhanced offshore RMB repo markets
Turning vision into action involves four key steps:
- Deepen capital markets: expand equity, bonds and asset-backed instruments, upgrade disclosure and bolster governance
- Mobilize patient capital: launch venture funds, long-tenor bonds and co-investment platforms with clear governance
- Upgrade the openness toolkit: broaden Payment Connect usage, diversify offshore RMB repo channels and strengthen trade settlement backstops
- Stay ahead of cycles: unify regulation, deploy early-warning tools, publish local debt data and preserve scope for counter-cyclical policy
Financial stability underpins every move. With unified supervision and proactive risk resolution, China aims to keep the RMB generally stable and prevent local vulnerabilities from becoming systemic. The next five years will test whether these plans deliver: if markets price risk transparently, capital flows to frontier projects and opening enhances resilience, finance will truly serve as the strategic spine of China’s modernization drive from 2026 to 2030.
Reference(s):
Xin Ge: Finance as a strategic spine of China's 15th Five-Year Plan
cgtn.com
