Published by ChinaMNC · Xuzhou

What China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Special Plans Mean for Foreign Founders: Innovation, Industry, and Market Access

A practical guide for foreign founders on how China’s 15th Five-Year Plan special plans promote new quality productive forces, with implications for company registration and operations.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and New Quality Productive Forces: A Guide for Foreign Founders

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period has begun with a strong focus on developing “new quality productive forces” (新质生产力), a concept that emphasizes innovation-driven, high-quality growth. For foreign founders looking to register or operate a company in China, understanding the policy direction set by national and local special plans can help align business strategies with government priorities. This article summarizes key points from official plans and highlights practical implications.

Innovation as the Core Driver

According to the Xinhua article, the 15th Five-Year Plan outlines a roadmap for accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and leading the development of new quality productive forces. A series of national-level special plans treat this as a key focus, and local plans make specific arrangements. The article notes that scientific and technological innovation is the core element of new quality productive forces. The Opinions on Developing New Quality Productive Forces, issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, place “vigorously advancing scientific and technological innovation” at the top of all tasks.

Recent examples of innovation achievements cited include: the world’s largest 27.1-cubic-meter LNG carrier starting construction in China; T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber released and achieving mass production for the first time globally; and the quantum computing prototype “Jiuzhang 4” setting a new world record in optical quantum information technology. These illustrate the types of breakthroughs the policy environment aims to support.

Key Technology Breakthroughs and Industrial Priorities

Several special plans deploy key tasks for breakthroughs in core technologies, targeting bottlenecks in industrial chains and focusing on areas such as integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, and advanced materials. The plans leverage the advantages of the new nationwide system to coordinate resources and consolidate the foundation for high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.

For example, the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Information and Communication Industry proposes accelerating research on 6G core technologies and continuing 6G technology trials. The 15th Five-Year Plan for Railway Science and Technology Innovation calls for research on system-oriented key core technologies, frontier exploratory technologies, and market-oriented applied technologies. The 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of New Battery Industry includes a column on “improvement of common and key technologies” with detailed deployment around all-solid-state battery technology breakthroughs. The National Informatization 15th Five-Year Plan lists the “Cyberspace Science and Technology Innovation Breakthrough Project” as a column, deploying specific research content in key areas such as basic software, industrial software, and intelligent technology.

肖宏伟, a researcher at the State Information Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, is quoted as saying that the precise layout of these special plans is both a pragmatic arrangement to clear bottlenecks in industrial chains and stabilize the security foundation, and a strategic choice to cultivate new tracks and shape new advantages for the long term, helping China seize opportunities and take initiative in global competition.

Modern Industrial System and Integration of Innovation Chains

The article emphasizes that a modern industrial system is the fertile ground for new quality productive forces. By letting scientific and technological innovation lead industrial innovation and seamlessly connecting innovation chains with industrial chains, new quality productive forces can inject strong momentum into high-quality development. The special plans highlight specific arrangements that emphasize both scientific and technological innovation supply and industrial demand traction, promoting deep integration of technological and industrial innovation and accelerating the transformation of technology into real productivity.

For instance, the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry proposes supporting the construction of pilot testing platforms and application verification centers for electronic components and materials to help product innovation and upgrading. The 15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization proposes guiding the formation of industrial intellectual property innovation consortia. The 15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a New Energy System proposes encouraging the large-scale application of independently innovative products. These measures span from concept verification platforms, pilot testing platforms, and incubators to strengthening intellectual property transformation and application capabilities and innovative scenario applications, aiming to accelerate the journey of innovations from laboratory to market.

Strengthening the Role of Enterprises as Innovation Entities

The special plans repeatedly deploy measures to strengthen the dominant role of enterprises in innovation. Examples include supporting enterprises to lead more national science and technology tasks in the information and communication field; supporting joint research by pharmaceutical industrial enterprises, universities, research institutes, and medical institutions; and supporting qualified enterprises and research institutes to establish global innovation carriers. These plans aim to promote the dominant position of enterprises in decision-making, investment, organization of research, and application of results, gather various innovation resources and factors toward enterprises, transform technological advantages into productivity advantages, and unlock the value of collaborative innovation among industry, academia, and research.

Additionally, the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry, released in September this year, targets new trends in cross-border integration of new energy vehicles and deploys specific reform measures to better remove barriers to the flow of data elements, such as promoting cross-industry information platform interconnection and supporting the construction of cross-domain cloud-controlled basic platforms.

Institutional and Regulatory Reforms

Institutional innovation is essential to sustain the wave of innovation. The special plans continue to address key links, clear bottlenecks, and activate factors. The 15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Human Resources and Social Security proposes supporting and encouraging researchers in research institutes and universities to engage in scientific and technological innovation and commercialization of results in enterprises according to regulations. The 15th Five-Year Plan for Reform and Development of the People’s Bank of China focuses on building a science and technology finance system compatible with scientific and technological innovation and building a high-quality “science and technology board” in the bond market. The Intellectual Property plan aims to promote examination information sharing and data exchange with countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

These plans further break down barriers to the flow of innovation factors such as talent, capital, data, and technology, open up and make good use of the global market, and promote the gathering of various innovation resources toward the industrial frontline and value transformation links.

In terms of market order, the Electronic Information Manufacturing plan proposes coordinating capacity planning and early warning for sub-sectors and comprehensively addressing “involution-style” competition. The New Power System plan proposes regulating the scope of natural monopoly business and competitive business of grid enterprises. Such measures aim to standardize market order and promote healthy and orderly industrial competition. 肖宏伟 notes that the special 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 industrial competition, and make institutions better adapt to the pace of new technologies and new industries.

Practical Implications for Foreign Founders

For foreign founders, these policy directions suggest several practical considerations:

• Align with priority sectors: Sectors such as information and communication technology (including 6G), advanced materials, new energy batteries, electronic information manufacturing, intelligent connected vehicles, and new energy systems are receiving focused policy support. Registering a company in these areas may offer access to innovation resources and pilot programs.
• Leverage enterprise-led innovation: The plans emphasize enterprises’ role in innovation. Foreign-invested enterprises may participate in national science and technology programs and joint research with universities and institutes, provided they meet relevant qualifications.
• Utilize pilot platforms and IP protection: Support for pilot testing platforms, application verification centers, and intellectual property consortia can help foreign founders commercialize technologies faster and protect their innovations.
• Navigate regulatory changes: Efforts to standardize market order and address unfair competition may create a more predictable business environment. However, founders should stay informed about sector-specific regulations and compliance requirements.
• Access talent and finance: Measures to encourage researcher mobility and develop science and technology finance, including a bond market “science and technology board,” may improve access to talent and funding for innovative ventures.

It is important to note that these plans are official policy documents, and implementation details may vary by region and sector. Foreign founders should consult local authorities and professional advisors to understand specific requirements for company registration and operations.

Conclusion

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan special plans signal a continued emphasis on innovation-driven development and industrial upgrading. For foreign founders, this environment offers opportunities to participate in priority sectors, collaborate with local partners, and benefit from supportive policies. However, success requires careful alignment with policy goals and compliance with local regulations.

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

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