Why the World is Watching China’s 2025 Plenary Session

At present, China remains in a phase of development where strategic opportunities exist alongside risks and challenges, while uncertainties and unforeseen factors are rising.

At present, China remains in a phase of development where strategic opportunities exist alongside risks and challenges, while uncertainties and unforeseen factors are rising. The plenary session proposed to expand high-standard opening up and break new ground in pursuing win-win cooperation. China will steadily expand institutional opening up, uphold the multilateral trading regime, broaden international circulation, deepen reform and promote development through opening up, and share opportunities and pursue common development with all other countries. Chinese leadership of “Xi Jinping” insists on actively expanding (self-driven opening up, promoting innovative development of foreign trade, expanding two-way investment cooperation, and pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation). China’s objective is to promote high-standard opening up and create new horizons for mutually beneficial cooperation, particularly amidst the current intricate international landscape, beneficial for the Global South’s development, for global growth, and for building a community with a shared future for humanity.

 China’s high-level openness contributes to enhancing mutual cooperation by expanding trade and attracting investment, stimulating economic growth in the Global South, and enhancing global growth. This approach contributes to building a community with a shared future by providing new opportunities for sustainable development, driving technological innovation, and enhancing the stability of the global economy in the face of complex challenges.

–            China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and China’s role in the development of the Global South, by providing the following elements and mechanisms:

1)       Trade and Investment Opportunities:

China’s openness strategy encourages increased trade and investment with countries in the Global South, providing new markets for goods and opportunities to attract capital.

2)       Infrastructure Support:

This can include investment in infrastructure projects, which helps strengthen regional economic ties and support local development.

3) Technology Transfer:

Openness opens the door to the exchange of expertise and technology in areas such as agriculture, industry, and technology, helping to modernize the economies of countries in the Global South.

4) China’s Encouragement of Growth in the Global South, through:

–            China’s Stimulation of the Global Growth Engine:

China’s extensive trade and significant foreign investment contribute to boosting global demand and stimulating economic growth worldwide.

–            China’s Assistance in Alleviating Economic Turmoil:

In a turbulent global economic environment, China’s openness provides a source of growth and stability.

–            China’s Promoting Innovation:

Chinese investment in technologies, such as 5G and AI, contributes to global innovation.

– China’s Role in Building a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity, through:

1) China’s Assistance in Achieving Sustainable Development, Mutual Benefit, and Win-Win Cooperation:

China places an emphasis on achieving mutual benefit and common development, helping to build sustainable development models that benefit all.

2) China’s Strengthening Cooperation with the Global South and All:

China aims to create new horizons for cooperation, strengthen multilateral relations, and enhance global stability.

3)       Addressing common challenges between China and the world:

By encouraging cooperation in areas such as technology and innovation, China seeks to help the international community address common challenges.

 Based on the previous analysis, we understand that China’s 15th Five-Year Plan focuses on developing the high quality of the “new productive forces” and emphasizing scientific and technological innovation, reflecting its ambition to achieve “socialist modernization” by 2035. The plan and its desired outcomes are influenced by the concept of “a shared future for mankind,” as China seeks to promote mutually beneficial cooperation with the rest of the world, including developing countries. These efforts, particularly those related to cooperation with developing countries in the Global South in areas such as artificial intelligence, food security, energy, and digital transformation, represent an opportunity to build a more resilient and sustainable development community, thus promoting the concept of a shared future for mankind and mutual benefit and win-win outcomes for all.

Dr.Nadia Helmy
Dr.Nadia Helmy
Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Politics and Economics / Beni Suef University- Egypt. An Expert in Chinese Politics, Sino-Israeli relationships, and Asian affairs- Visiting Senior Researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)/ Lund University, Sweden- Director of the South and East Asia Studies Unit