Economic and Trade Cooperation during China’s 14th Five-Year Plan – New Stage and New Opportunities

When I attended the webinar held by CCBC in July, many Canadian friends from the business community asked about China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP). A few days ago, the 5th plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reviewed and approved proposals for formulating the 14th FYP (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035. Today, I want to take the opportunity to introduce relevant situation to Canadian friends who take an interest in and support China’s development.

This year is the concluding year of the 13th FYP (2016-2020). From 2021 on, China will enter the period of the 14th FYP. With developments in the period of the 13th FYP, China’s economic, scientific and overall strengths have made giant leaps, the economy remained stable overall and the economic structure was continuously improved. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to exceed 100 trillion yuan (USD 14.9 trillion) in 2020. Despite the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global and China’s economy, China’s GDP expanded 0.7 percent on a YoY basis in the first three quarters, and expanded 4.9 percent on a YoY basis in the third quarter. China’s major economic indicators have shifted from negative to positive and its overall national economy continues the steady recovery. All these progresses have laid a solid foundation for the successful concluding of the 13th FYP.

The 14th FYP period will be the first five years for China to embark on a journey to comprehensively build a modern socialist country, with China entering a new development stage. The communique of the 5th plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China mentioned « reform » and « opening-up » more than 20 times, which sends out a clear signal that China will remain committed to deepening reform and opening-up and realizing win-win cooperation. During the period, China will continue to follow through on a new vision for development, promote high-quality development, and strive to foster a new development pattern. China will make new achievements in economic development, take new steps in reform and opening up, further enhance social etiquette and civility, make new progress in building an ecological civilization, and raise people’s well-being to a new level.

China will lift the modernization level of the industry and supply chains, improve the efficiency and quality of its economy. It will expand domestic demand, smooth the domestic circulation, and let domestic and international circulations reinforce each other, spurring consumption in an all-round way and expanding investment. China is going to motivate various market entities and build a high-standard market system. It will carry out opening-up in more fields, with broader range and in greater depth, and improve its level of opening-up in an all-round way, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and facilitate international cooperation, so as to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. China will also implement the strategy of sustainable development in depth, boost green and low-carbon development at a faster pace, and improve the environment in a constant way.

I believe, China’s development in the 14th FYP period will continue to provide more market opportunities for the international community, including the Canadian business community, and bring more possibilities to deepening and expanding practical cooperation between China and Canada. The Canadian business community can actively participate in the key development areas of China’s 14th FYP, including green development, coordinated regional development, new-type urbanization construction, and the establishment of modern industrial system. The Canadian business community enjoys distinct advantages in these areas, and there are great potentials for bilateral cooperation. China has released the 2020 version of the negative list for foreign investment access in the first half of this year, and will release the first negative list for cross-border trade in services in the near future. I encourage the Canadian businesses to take full advantage of China’s super-large market to further expand two-way trade cooperation between China and Canada. Many Canadian brands have laid a solid foundation in Chinese market. They can surely continue to expand market channels for broader cooperation and greater win-win results.

I hope that the Canadian business community will continue to make active efforts to help bring China-Canada relations back on the right track at an earlier date, seize the opportunities created in China’s new development stage, and break new ground in win-win economic and trade cooperation.