On March 12, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress concluded in Beijing. The Congress approved the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development.

In the view of many foreign investment institutions, China's magnificent "construction drawing" not only outlines the development direction of the world's second largest economy in the next five years, but also presents a clear "list of opportunities" for global investors.

Many senior executives of foreign companies expressed their willingness to actively seize the new development opportunities contained in the "15th Five-Year Plan" and continue to delve into the Chinese market.

“The planning outline implements long-term strategic goals into pragmatic actions at each stage through systematic layout and phased adjustments, maintaining continuity while maintaining flexibility.” said Jiang Ying, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deloitte China.

109 major projects have been proposed, an increase from the "14th Five-Year Plan" period; R&D investment has increased by more than 7% annually on average; and a full-chain cultivation system for future industries has been built... Jiang Ying pointed out that the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline plays the role of a "compass", especially in promoting the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, providing clear track guidance for Chinese local governments and enterprises.

On February 28, 2026, the humanoid robot of Yushu Technology performed a dance at the central square of Tonglu County, Zhejiang Province. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi

According to Hu Zhizhi, President of UBS Group China and Chairman of UBS Securities, the innovative vitality shown by Chinese companies in fields such as artificial intelligence, high-end manufacturing, semiconductors, and new energy is reshaping global investors' perception of Chinese assets. The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline proposes to accelerate self-reliance and self-reliance in high-level science and technology and lead the development of new productive forces. This will further promote the transformation of Chinese assets from an "allocation option" to a "strategic must" and provide foreign financial institutions with global resource allocation capabilities with a historic opportunity to participate in China's high-quality development.

Many executives of foreign companies in China pointed out that a China with clear planning, clear goals and continuous innovation will attract foreign investment to seize opportunities and advance deeply into the industry.

“The ‘15th Five-Year Plan’ outline proposes to strengthen the support of computing power facilities. This is highly consistent with GLP China’s strategic plan.” Zhao Mingqi, CEO of GLP China, said that as the world’s leading new economy investment management and industrial service provider, GLP has opened up the path to upgrade computing power centers in logistics parks and is continuing to increase investment and operation of AI computing power centers in China to better serve industries such as finance and the Internet.

China is the "world's factory" and the "world's market". According to Zhu Jiangliu, Vice President of Corporate Affairs of Anheuser-Busch China, the "building a strong domestic market" and "vigorously boosting consumption" proposed in the planning outline have enhanced the Anheuser-Busch Group's confidence in deeply exploring China's consumer sector. "We especially see huge potential in new consumption scenarios and the integration of cultural and social experiences, and plan to introduce world-class IPs such as 'Tomorrow's World Electronic Music Festival' to China to create high-end consumption scenarios."

Many foreign investment institutions said that the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline sends a clear signal that China will expand opening up and promote high-level institutional opening up, which will inject inexhaustible impetus for foreign-invested enterprises to develop in China and collaborate with local partners.

“From accelerating the approval of innovative drugs and achieving simultaneous global listing, to the major support for biomedicine and other fields in the new version of the Catalog of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment, to the continued empowerment of open platforms such as the China International Import Expo, China is building a high-quality innovation stage for multinational companies through institutional opening up.” Zhang Lei, vice president of communications for Greater China and Northeast Asia at Bayer Group, said that the “15th Five-Year Plan” outline proposes to expand high-level opening up to the outside world and create a new situation of win-win cooperation. This further strengthens Bayer's confidence in developing in China and sharing the opportunities of China's opening up.

On November 7, 2025, visitors visited the Bayer booth in the medical equipment and pharmaceutical and health care exhibition area of the China International Import Expo. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Haoming

Xia Jun, managing partner of Ernst & Young's Central China Region, said that the implementation of the "access and operation" proposed in the planning outline directly addresses the core concerns of foreign-funded enterprises, which is conducive to breaking down various hidden barriers and creating a transparent, stable and predictable institutional environment. “This shift from ‘giving preferential treatment’ to ‘building mechanisms’ is the cornerstone of enhancing the long-term confidence of foreign investment,” she said.

China is both a "power source" and a "stabilizing anchor." Hu Zhizhi said that the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline anchors the direction for the high-quality development of China's financial market and provides a clearer, stable and predictable policy framework for foreign financial institutions to deepen their operations in China.

In the view of Standard Chartered Group, in the "15th Five-Year Plan" outline, innovation and domestic demand are the two major focuses. China's economic growth momentum will come more from technology-driven, productivity improvements and more powerful policies to expand domestic demand. Wen Tuosi, CEO of Standard Chartered Group, said that China's economy is "stable, predictable, dynamic and forward-looking". In the context of the current world economy full of uncertainties, "stability is a very good thing." (Reporters Ren Jun, You Zhixin)