中文
The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee presides over the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in Beijing, China. The session was held from October 20 to 23, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
By Jessica Durdu
The fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which concluded in Beijing on October 23, marks a pivotal moment between two eras of policy planning. It not only reviewed the near-completion of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) but also mapped the guiding framework for the 15th (2026-2030), one that will bridge the path to the 2035 goal of "basically achieving socialist modernization."
The communique issued at the end of the plenum reaffirms China's unique development logic: pursuing progress while ensuring stability. This principle, evident in China's resilient post-pandemic recovery, has underpinned a decade of policy success, from maintaining economic growth around 5 percent despite global headwinds, to expanding the world's largest high-speed rail network and achieving leadership in renewable energy production.
The communique says China is "on the verge of accomplishing" the 14th Five-Year Plan's objectives. It is not mere aspiration but based on tangible evidence: industrial upgrading, technological self-reliance and social stability advancing hand-in-hand.
The emphasis on the real economy and building a modern industrial system reflects China's long-term strategic confidence. Manufacturing remains the backbone of China's modernization drive, an anchor of national resilience. While many economies have hollowed out their industrial bases, China has chosen the opposite route: to refine, not retreat.
The communique's call to strengthen manufacturing, aerospace, transportation and cyberspace is a direct continuation of this strategy. The recent breakthroughs in commercial space launches, electric vehicles and high-end robotics show what this means in practice.
From this foundation, the concept of "new quality productive forces," a term that has entered the policy lexicon as a synthesis of technology, innovation and talent, is advanced. By linking educational reform with technological breakthroughs, the CPC aims to ensure that innovation is not isolated in laboratories but diffused across society and industries.
The Digital China Initiative, the blueprint for the country's digital development and to make it a leader of technical innovation, for instance, has already turned once-traditional sectors like agriculture and logistics into engines of data-driven efficiency. This deliberate merging of technology and production capacity shows that self-reliance does not imply isolation. Rather, it denotes the capacity to integrate globally from a position of domestic strength.
Economic modernization, however, cannot rest on the supply side alone. The communique introduces a virtuous cycle where new demand drives new supply, encapsulating the transition toward a consumption-driven, innovation-led growth model. This rebalancing is visible in the booming services and high-tech industries that now account for the majority of China's GDP.
Household consumption, especially in health, culture and green products, is rising, illustrating how improving living standards and economic dynamism reinforce each other. It also signals a deeper institutional insight: Prosperity must be both produced and shared.
Yucun, a village in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province in east China, April 13, 2023. China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) focuses on rural revitalization. [Photo/Xinhua]
Indeed, social policy and economic vision flow seamlessly through the communique. The focus on rural revitalization and coordinated regional development follows logically from the fight against extreme poverty completed in 2020. The goal now is to turn the countryside into a frontier of modernization, through digital agriculture, better education and improved infrastructure.
The parallel emphasis on cultural creativity reflects a broader understanding that modernization is not purely material. A society must have both prosperity and purpose. As Chinese filmmakers, architects and designers increasingly win international recognition, cultural development is becoming an important vehicle of national soft power.
Another key thread weaving through the communique is openness. China commits to high-standard opening-up, defending multilateralism, and deepening Belt and Road cooperation. In practice, this means institutional reforms that allow a more predictable and rules-based environment for trade and investment.
It is also an invitation for shared growth, an approach already visible in the green and digital dimensions of the Belt and Road Initiative, from the solar parks in the Middle East to cross-border e-commerce corridors in Southeast Asia. The message is clear: China's modernization is not a zero-sum game but a cooperative process tied to the global economy’s vitality.
Environmental sustainability and national security, two pillars often seen as distinct, are presented as mutually reinforcing. The principle that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" now functions as a concrete economic policy driver. China's rapid rise as the world's largest producer of solar panels and wind turbines exemplifies how ecological responsibility and industrial competitiveness can align.
Similarly, the modernization of national defense is not militarization but a prerequisite for peace and stability, ensuring that China's development proceeds in a secure and predictable environment.
Ultimately, all these ambitions converge on a single foundation: the CPC leadership and self-governance. The communique's emphasis on discipline, anti-corruption and centralized coordination reinforces the institutional backbone that has enabled long-term policy consistency.
"To run the country well, we must first run the Party well," says the communique, a statement that encapsulates how governance and development remain inseparable in the Chinese context.
Taken together, the fourth plenum outcome is both reflective and forward-looking, a bridge from achievement to acceleration. It shows a China confident in its governance model, pragmatic in its methods and steady in its ambitions.
The next phase of modernization will unfold not through sudden leaps but through carefully sequenced reforms that balance innovation with inclusion, growth with sustainability, and national vision with global cooperation.
Jessica Durdu, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a foreign affairs specialist and PhD candidate in international relations at China Foreign Affairs University.
