--- source: Xinhua News Agency (新华社) url: https://www.news.cn/politics/20260313/9e24773bf14649f59afe2d62550e48ce/c.html document_type: html date_retrieved: 2026-03-17 period: 2026 (Fourth Session, 14th National People's Congress) parent_publication: 2026 Government Work Report (政府工作报告) indicators_covered: [Economic Growth, Employment, CPI, International Payments, Grain Production, Carbon Emissions, Five-Year Plan Targets] document_date: 2026-03-05 (delivered), 2026-03-13 (authorized publication) --- # 2026 Government Work Report ## Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress **Delivered by:** Premier Li Qiang, representing the State Council **Date:** March 5, 2026 **Authorized Publication:** Xinhua News Agency, March 13, 2026 --- ## I. Review of Work in 2025 2025 was an extraordinary year. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Party outlined a magnificent blueprint for the country's development in the next five years. We commemorated with great ceremony the 80th anniversary of the Chinese people's victory in the War of Resistance against Japan and the victory of the world's anti-fascist war, and established Taiwan Restoration Memorial Day, greatly boosting national spirit, inspiring patriotic enthusiasm, and strengthening the force for struggle. Facing profound and complex changes in the domestic and international situation, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core united and led all ethnic groups across the country to overcome difficulties and work hard, steadily implementing the new development philosophy and promoting high-quality development, coordinating both domestic and international situations. The main objectives and tasks of economic and social development throughout the year were accomplished smoothly, the "14th Five-Year Plan" was completed with success, and a new solid step was taken in advancing Chinese-style modernization. ### Economic Performance Over the past year, China's economy withstood pressure and demonstrated strong resilience. Overall economic operation remained stable with progress made, with **GDP growth of 5%** and a total volume reaching **14.019 trillion yuan**. - **Employment:** Stable overall, with 12.67 million new urban jobs created - **Urban surveyed unemployment rate:** Average of 5.2% - **Foreign trade:** Rapid growth with notable diversification - **International payments:** Basically balanced - **Income:** Residents' income growth synchronized with economic growth - **Grain production:** Reached 1.43 trillion jin Poverty alleviation achievements were consolidated and expanded. Pre-school one-year free education policy was implemented, benefiting 14 million children. Comprehensive universal childcare allowance system was launched, benefiting over 30 million infants and toddlers. Risk prevention and control in key areas made positive progress. Social stability was maintained. ### Innovation and Modernization Development shifted toward new directions and displayed vigorous vitality: - **New quality productive forces:** Developed steadily; scientific and technological innovation achievements abundant - **Frontier technologies:** AI, biomedicine, robotics, quantum technology research and development applications leading globally - **Semiconductor advances:** New breakthroughs in chip independent R&D - **Space exploration:** Tianwen-2 mission launched ("chasing stars" mission) - **Satellite systems:** Beidou constellation applications fully expanded - **Energy infrastructure:** Yaxia hydroelectric engineering project commenced construction - **Naval capability:** First domestically-built electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier Fujian commissioned - **AI models:** Domestic large models leading global open-source ecosystem ### Industrial Transformation - **High-tech manufacturing:** Value added increased 9.4% - **Equipment manufacturing:** Value added increased 9.2% - **Industrial robots:** Production increased 28% - **Integrated circuits:** Production increased 10.9% - **New energy vehicles:** Annual output exceeded 16 million units - **EV charging infrastructure:** Exceeded 20 million facilities **Energy efficiency:** GDP energy consumption fell 5.1%. Ecological environment quality continuously improved. ### Challenges Overcome Over the past year's achievements came with difficulty. China faced external impacts and internal structural contradictions: - International economic and trade environment shifted sharply - Unilateralism and protectionism escalated dramatically - Market expectations frequently disrupted - Foreign trade significantly pressured - Domestic economic deep transformation revealing structural contradictions - Consumption and investment growth momentum insufficient The Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core led the country in responding carefully and advancing with courage. In external relations, China conducted five rounds of China-US economic and trade consultations achieving positive results. The state visit by US President and visit of other leaders led to significant consensus at the Busan summit, injecting greater stability into economic and trade cooperation. Domestically, policy combinations were deployed to stabilize employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations. The economy not only stabilized but high-quality development achieved new results, greatly boosting confidence. --- ## II. Main Objectives and Tasks for the 15th Five-Year Plan Period Based on the **Communist Party of China Central Committee's Recommendations on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development**, the State Council prepared the **Draft Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China**, submitted to the Congress for review. ### Major Target Indicators (20 Items) **Economic Development:** - GDP growth maintained in reasonable range, with annual targets set accordingly - Foundation laid for per capita GDP reaching middle-developed country level by 2035 (doubling 2020 levels) **Innovation and Drive:** - R&D expenditure annual growth rate: **7% or above** - High-value invention patents per 10,000 population growth target set **Population and Quality of Life:** - Full employment targeting - Income growth targets - Education indicators - Healthcare and health targets - Aging society (elderly care) services - Child care ("one child one old") services **Green and Low-Carbon:** - **Cumulative reduction of CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP: 17%** - Continued transition to green, low-carbon development in key sectors **Safety and Security:** - Grain production capacity target: **1.45 trillion jin** - Energy comprehensive production capacity: **58 billion tons standard coal equivalent** ### Major Strategic Tasks (Four Focus Areas) #### 1. Promoting High-Quality Development - Developing new quality productive forces as internal requirement of high-quality development - Emphasis on scientific and technological innovation leadership - Consolidating and strengthening real economy foundations - Building modern industrial system anchored in advanced manufacturing - **Digital economy core industry value added to reach 12.5% of GDP** - Environmental protection and ecosystem optimization - Green production and lifestyle formation - Ensuring carbon peak achievement on schedule #### 2. Strengthening Domestic Circulation - Domestic demand as strategic foundation (expanding internal demand) - Combined focus on consumer stimulus and investment - Lifting consumption rates and expanding effective investment - Fully releasing super-large-scale market dividends - Deepening unified national market construction - Breaking local protectionism and market segmentation - Releasing element market potential #### 3. Promoting Common Prosperity for All People - **High-quality population development and birth-friendly society** - **Raising average education years of working-age population to 11.7 years** - **Building healthy China and sports power (life expectancy increase to 80 years)** - **Nursing beds in elderly care institutions at 73% capacity ratio** - High-quality and full employment - Income distribution system perfection - Social security system expansion - Closing regional and urban-rural gaps - Speeding agricultural and rural modernization - Culture and arts development emphasis #### 4. Coordinating Development and Security - Holistic national security perspective - Grain supply guarantee (1.45 trillion jin capacity) - Energy resource security - Real estate, local government debt, and financial institution risks management - Public safety governance enhancement - Social stability maintenance ### Major Engineering Projects (109 Projects Across 6 Areas) 1. **New Quality Productive Forces:** 28 projects in industrial capacity, new industry development, frontier tech, innovation infrastructure 2. **Modern Infrastructure:** 23 projects (transportation networks, energy systems, digital infrastructure, opening platforms) 3. **Urban-Rural Integration:** 9 projects (new urbanization, agricultural modernization) 4. **Public Services and Welfare:** 25 projects (culture, education, health, elderly/child care) 5. **Green and Low-Carbon Transition:** 18 projects (carbon neutrality, environmental quality, ecosystem restoration) 6. **Strategic Safety:** 6 projects (grain, energy security) --- ## III. 2026 Economic and Social Development: Overall Requirements and Policy Directions ### Main Development Targets for 2026 2026 is the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. The main expected development targets are: | Target | Goal | |--------|------| | **Economic Growth** | 4.5% – 5% (striving for better results in actual work) | | **Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate** | ~5.5% | | **Urban New Jobs** | 12 million+ | | **Resident CPI Increase** | ~2% | | **Resident Income Growth** | In sync with economic growth | | **International Payments** | Basically balanced | | **Grain Production** | ~1.4 trillion jin | | **CO₂ Emissions per GDP Unit** | 3.8% reduction | ### Policy Orientation: Stability Amid Progress, Quality Enhancement We will pursue stability amid progress and quality enhancement, leveraging both existing and new policies' integrated effects, strengthening counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustment intensity, and substantially improving macroeconomic governance effectiveness. #### Continuing More Active Fiscal Policy - **Fiscal deficit rate:** ~4%, with deficit scale of 5.89 trillion yuan (increase of 230 billion yuan year-over-year) - **General public budget expenditure:** First-time target of 30 trillion yuan (increase of ~1.27 trillion yuan) - **Ultra-long-term special treasury bonds:** 1.3 trillion yuan to support "two重" construction and "two新" work - **Special treasury bonds:** 300 billion yuan to support state-owned large commercial banks' capital supplementation - **Local government special bonds:** 4.4 trillion yuan (major project construction, implicit debt replacement, government debt clearance) **Expenditure structure optimization emphasis:** - Consumer stimulus support - Human capital investment - Public welfare protection - Higher utilization of fiscal funds **Local government support:** - Increased central fiscal transfer payments - Enhanced local fiscal autonomy - Multilevel responsibility assignment - Baseline social security ("three保") guarantee #### Continuing Moderately Loose Monetary Policy - Promoting stable economic growth and reasonable price recovery as key monetary policy considerations - Flexible, efficient use of tools (RRR cuts, rate cuts, etc.) - Abundant liquidity maintenance - Social financing scale and money supply growth aligned with economic growth and price targets **Structural policy tool optimization:** - Enhanced innovation in structural monetary policy tools - Mechanism transmission smoothing - Support for expanding internal demand, tech innovation, SME sectors - Standardized credit market behavior - Reduced financing intermediate costs - Low social comprehensive financing cost maintenance - **RMB exchange rate:** Maintained at reasonable equilibrium level with basic stability #### Coordinating Reform Measures with Macroeconomic Policy Using reforms to address economic circulation bottlenecks and blockages, converting policy effects into economic endogenous growth dynamics. **Macroeconomic policy coordination:** - Consistency evaluation spanning economic and non-economic policies - All policies driving toward common objective with synergetic effect - Deepened policy combination (fiscal-monetary-employment-industry coordination) - Expectation management mechanism building - Confidence boosting --- ## IV. 2026 Government Work Tasks Following comprehensive Party Central Committee deployment for this year's work, we will deeply implement the following major tasks: ### (1) Building a Strong Domestic Market Maintain internal demand leadership, coordinate consumption stimulus and investment expansion, expand domestic growth space, and better leverage China's super-large-scale market advantage. #### Comprehensive Consumer Stimulus Action - **Urban and rural residents' income growth plan** implementation with focus on low-income group expansion, property income increases, salary and social security improvements - **Consumer goods trade-in program:** 250 billion yuan ultra-long-term special treasury bonds allocated - **Policy finance coordination consumer expansion:** 100 billion yuan fiscal-financial coordination special fund created (using loan subsidies, guarantee, risk compensation tools) - **Personal consumption and service industry business loan subsidies:** Expanded support domains, increased subsidy ceilings, extended implementation periods - **One-time credit repair policy** implementation - **Service consumption quality improvement action:** New consumption scenarios development, consumption growth points cultivation - **Offline consumption activation:** Down-market vitality stimulation - **Consumption sector unreasonable restrictions removal:** Cultural tourism, sports, wellness sectors - **Spring-autumn school vacations and paid vacation policies:** Promoted for eligible regions and workers - **Consumer rights protection enhancement** - **Inbound consumption environment optimization:** "Shopping in China" brand development #### Effective Investment Potential Release Focused on new quality productive forces, new urbanization, human development: - **Central budgetary investment:** 755 billion yuan - **80 billion yuan ultra-long-period special treasury bonds:** Allocated to "two重" construction - **Central investment subsidies:** Raised across categories - **Local government special bonds:** Enhanced amount allocation for well-prepared project regions - **New-type policy finance tools:** 800 billion yuan issue (driving social capital participation) - **Government investment efficiency:** Comprehensive funds coordination with low-efficiency investment prevention - **Private investment promotion:** Long-term institutional mechanisms, high-tech and modern service sector redirection ### (2) Rapidly Cultivating and Strengthening New Growth Drivers Position economic development focus on real economy, develop new quality productive forces in place-appropriate manner, build modern industrial system. #### Traditional Industry Optimization and Upgrade - **Major technological modernization projects:** New batch deployment - **Large-scale equipment renewal:** 200 billion yuan ultra-long-period special bonds support - **Manufacturing priority chains:** High-quality development new round actions with industry foundation recreation and major tech equipment concentration - **National advanced manufacturing clusters:** Multi-cluster development - **"Universal cloud-data-empowerment" services:** SME digital-intelligent transformation support enhancement - **Intelligent manufacturing expansion:** Smart factory, intelligent supply chain construction - **Smart construction development:** Modern building industry chain cultivation - **Standard upgrading acceleration:** Quality supervision, brand building, product excellence support #### New Industry and Track Development [Additional sections continue with details on AI, new materials, biotech, energy transitions, etc.] --- ## 2025 Five-Year Plan ("14th Five-Year Plan") Summary: 20 Indicators & 17 Major Strategic Tasks ### Economic Achievements - GDP increased across 110, 120, 130, 140 trillion yuan thresholds sequentially - **Average annual growth: 5.4%** (notably above global average) ### Scientific and Innovation Breakthroughs - R&D expenditure average annual growth: 10% - **Per 10,000 population high-value patents:** 16 units - Major key core technology breakthroughs achieved - **Manufacturing value added:** Maintained global #1 position for 16 consecutive years - Supply chain resilience and safety improved ### Reform and Opening Progress - Priority sector reforms deepened - **Unified national market:** Accelerated construction - **High-level opening expansion:** Continuously broadened - Manufacturing sector foreign investment restrictions: fully eliminated - **Goods trade #1 nation status:** Further solidified - **Belt and Road Initiative:** Deep practical development ### Public Welfare Achievements - **Per capita disposable income annual growth:** 5.4% - **Cumulative urban jobs:** Over 60 million - **Poverty alleviation-rural revitalization transition:** 5-year target completion - **Basic old-age insurance:** National coordination steady implementation - **Working-age population average education:** Increased to 11.3 years - **Life expectancy:** Increased to 79.25 years ### Ecological Civilization Progress - **Grade-A and above air quality ratio:** 89.3% - **Forest coverage rate:** Exceeded 25% - **Global renewable energy:** Largest, fastest-growing system - Cumulative emission reductions: meeting targets ### Safety Assurance Capacity Enhancement - Grain, energy, finance, network security strengthened - Social stability maintained - Systematic risk prevention hold - "14th Five-Year Plan" completion: 20 main indicators, 17 major strategies, 102 major projects all successfully completed --- ## Acknowledgments These major achievements result fundamentally from the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core steering the course, guided scientifically by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and are the result of united struggle by the entire Party, military, and all ethnic groups nationwide. The State Council expresses heartfelt gratitude to: - All ethnic groups across the country - Democratic parties, people's organizations, and people from all walks of life - Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan compatriots, and overseas Chinese - Governments, international organizations, and friends of nations caring for and supporting China's modernization --- ## Challenges and Outlook ### Recognized Difficulties - Deteriorating external environment, rising geopolitical risks, weak global economic momentum - Domestic old and new challenges persisting - Difficult energy transitions and structural mismatches - Weak market expectations, hidden risk concentrations - Enterprise operational difficulties increasing - Employment and income growth challenges - Local fiscal revenue-expenditure contradictions - Real estate market adjustment continuation - Public service gaps remaining ### Confidence and Path Forward Despite difficulties, China's long-term positive economic fundamentals remain unchanged. System and major power advantages continue advancing. Tested by challenges, our resolve strengthens and steps firm. With proper leverage of advantages and challenge management, China's development prospects will surely be more promising. --- ## Document Notes - **Primary Publisher:** Xinhua News Agency (official news agency of Chinese government) - **Official Authorization:** Authorized release on March 13, 2026 - **Original Language:** Simplified Chinese (Chinese Mainland standard) - **Speech Delivery Date:** March 5, 2026 (opening plenary, 14th NPC Fourth Session) - **Parliamentary Approval:** March 12, 2026 (vote on government work report resolution passed)