Published by ChinaMNC · Shuocheng

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Special Plans: A Practical Guide for Foreign Founders

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan special plans emphasize new quality productive forces, with implications for foreign founders registering or operating a company in China. This article summarizes key policy directions from the plans, including tech innovation, industrial upgrading, and regulatory changes, based on official government sources.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Special Plans: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

China has entered the opening year of its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), and a series of national special plans are now being released. These plans set out detailed policy directions for developing “new quality productive forces” – a term that broadly refers to innovation-driven, high-quality growth. For foreign founders considering company registration or operations in China, these plans signal where regulatory support, funding, and market opportunities are likely to emerge. Below is a factual summary of key points from the plans, based solely on official government sources.

Innovation and Technology Breakthroughs

Science and technology innovation is positioned as the core element of new quality productive forces. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have issued an opinion on developing new quality productive forces, with “vigorously advancing scientific and technological innovation” listed as the top task. Several special plans detail concrete measures:

• Information and Communications: The 15th Five-Year Plan for the information and communications industry calls for accelerating research on core 6G technologies and continuing 6G technology trials.
• Railway Technology: The railway science and technology innovation plan proposes research on systemic key core technologies oriented toward national strategy, exploratory technologies with a frontier orientation, and applied technologies guided by market demand.
• Key Sectors: Multiple special plans target breakthroughs in core technologies, focusing on bottleneck areas such as integrated circuits, industrial mother machines, and advanced materials. They aim to leverage the advantages of the new nationwide system to pool resources and strengthen the foundation for high-level scientific self-reliance.
• New Batteries: The special plan for the new battery industry includes a column on “improvement of common and key technologies” with detailed deployment around all-solid-state battery technology breakthroughs.
• Informatization: The national informatization plan lists a “cyberspace science and technology innovation breakthrough project” as a special column, with specific research tasks in basic software, industrial software, and intelligent technologies.

According to Xiao Hongwei, a researcher at the State Information Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, these precise layouts are both practical arrangements to unblock industrial chain bottlenecks and stabilize the security foundation, and strategic choices to cultivate new tracks and shape new advantages for the long term.

Modern Industrial System and Enterprise Innovation

A modern industrial system is described as the fertile ground for new quality productive forces. The special plans emphasize integrating scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, and accelerating the conversion of innovation into real productivity. Examples include:

• Electronic Information Manufacturing: The plan supports building pilot testing platforms and application verification centers for electronic components and materials to help product innovation and upgrading.
• Intellectual Property: The IP protection and utilization plan encourages the formation of industry IP innovation consortia.
• New Energy System: The plan encourages large-scale application of independently innovative products.

The plans also repeatedly stress strengthening the principal role of enterprises in innovation. Measures include supporting enterprises to lead more national science and technology tasks in information and communications, supporting joint research by pharmaceutical enterprises, universities, research institutes, and medical institutions, and supporting qualified enterprises and research institutes to set up global innovation carriers. The goal is to concentrate innovation resources in enterprises and translate technological advantages into productivity advantages.

Cross-Sector Integration and Data Flows

The special plan for the intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry, released in September, addresses cross-sector integration trends. It deploys specific reform measures to better remove barriers to data element circulation, such as promoting interconnection of cross-industry information platforms and supporting the construction of cross-domain cloud-controlled basic platforms.

Institutional and Regulatory Changes

Institutional innovation is seen as essential to sustain the innovation wave. Several plans aim to break down barriers to the flow of talent, capital, data, and technology, and to better utilize global markets:

• Human Resources: The plan supports and encourages researchers from research institutes and universities to conduct technological innovation and commercialize results in enterprises according to regulations.
• Science and Technology Finance: The People’s Bank of China’s reform and development plan focuses on building a science and technology finance system compatible with innovation, and on high-quality development of a “science and technology board” in the bond market.
• Intellectual Property: The IP plan promotes review information sharing and data exchange with Belt and Road countries and regions.
• Market Order: The electronic information manufacturing plan calls for coordinated capacity planning and early warning in sub-sectors, and comprehensive rectification of “involution-style” competition. The new power system plan proposes regulation of the scope of natural monopoly and competitive businesses of grid enterprises.

Xiao Hongwei notes that the plans accelerate the improvement of laws, regulations, and regulatory systems in new areas, balance encouragement of innovation with regulated development, guide local governments to develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, promote healthy competition, and make institutions better adapt to the pace of new technologies and industries.

Implications for Foreign Founders

For foreign founders, these plans indicate several practical considerations:

• Sectoral Opportunities: High-tech sectors such as 6G, integrated circuits, advanced materials, new batteries, electronic information manufacturing, intelligent connected vehicles, and new energy are receiving focused policy support. Foreign founders in these areas may find more avenues for collaboration, pilot testing, and application verification.
• Enterprise-Led Innovation: Policies encourage enterprises to lead research tasks and form innovation consortia. Foreign-invested enterprises may be able to participate in such consortia or joint research projects, depending on specific regulations.
• Data and Cross-Border Flows: Efforts to remove barriers to data circulation and promote cross-industry platforms could affect how foreign companies manage data operations in China. However, details will depend on implementing rules.
• Talent and Finance: Measures to facilitate researcher mobility and develop science and technology finance may create a more supportive environment for hiring and funding innovation activities.
• Regulatory Compliance: Plans to regulate market order and address “involution-style” competition suggest a evolving regulatory landscape. Foreign founders should monitor sector-specific rules to ensure compliance.

It is important to note that these plans are high-level policy documents. Specific implementation measures, local variations, and sector-specific regulations will determine how they affect company registration and operations. Foreign founders should consult official sources and professional advisors for the latest requirements.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Call to Action: Foreign founders can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for help registering and operating a company in China.