The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was held from 20th to 23rd October 2025,
The Session laid out the Recommendations of the Committee for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026-2030).
It sets out a top-level design and strategic plan for China’s development over the next five years, serving yet another overarching blueprint and call to action for advancing Chinese modernisation.
The session 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 modernisation and has formed a Chinese path to modernisation, 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, the world is 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 new horizons for Chinese modernisation 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 modernising the industrial system, boosting self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and accelerating the green transition across the board.
The Plan proposes to foster emerging and future industries, boost full integration between technological and industrial innovation, and advance the Digital China Initiative.
It 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 a new chapter in reform, which will foster new quality productive forces that contributes to technological exchanges, cooperation and progress of humanity.
High-Standard Opening Up: China Shares Opportunities with the Rest of the World and Promotes Common Development
Openness and mutually beneficial cooperation are essential pillars of China’s modernisation strategy.
The Plan proposes promoting high standard opening up and creating new horizons for mutually beneficial cooperation.
It includes expanding institutional-level openness, safeguarding the multilateral trading system, promoting broader international economic flows, and leveraging openness to drive reform and development.
China will expand market access and open upmore areas, particularly in the service sector, and unilaterally expand 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.
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 stressed that China always followed 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 modernisation 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 offered by China to African countries that have diplomatic relations.
The Chinese path to modernisation belongs to China as well as the world; it is the road for China’s rejuvenation, and 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.
