China used the opening press conference of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) fourth session to sketch the economic priorities that will shape the opening of the "15th Five" period: steady expansion of institutional openness, a renewed effort to boost domestic consumption, and a concerted drive for technological self‑reliance centred on artificial intelligence and core‑tech breakthroughs.
NPC spokesman Lou Qinjian laid out a package of policies designed to reassure foreign investors even as Beijing doubles down on state‑led planning. Officials promised to deepen "institutional" openness — from defending the multilateral trading system to expanding two‑way investment and high‑quality Belt and Road projects — while also accelerating work to make foreign‑related laws more transparent and business environments more market‑oriented and rule‑based.
The conference gave particular prominence to measures intended to revive household spending. Beijing will widen the supply of high‑quality goods and services, promote service‑sector consumption, expand trade‑in and renewal schemes and stage "Buy in China" events. At the same time, the NPC signalled fiscal and social policy moves to underpin consumption: tighter labour‑market support, urban–rural income plans, and legal work this year on social assistance, medical insurance and childcare to reduce household precautionary saving.
On technology, Lou emphasised that advances in AI and robotics — illustrated by the recent surge in domestic humanoid robots — will be pursued alongside a strategic insistence on core‑technology autonomy. China says it is investing in compute, datasets and domestic algorithm models and will push for decisive breakthroughs across full innovation chains during the 15th Five, while also arguing for a global, non‑discriminatory open science environment.
Legislation will also be a headline feature of the session. The NPC will review a raft of major items including the "15th Five" plan outline, a proposed national development planning law, an ecological environment code, and a law to promote ethnic unity. Officials framed the planning law as an effort to lock into statute the established practice by which the party, the State Council and the NPC coordinate national plans — a move intended to enhance predictability and strategic direction.
Foreign policy remarks struck a pragmatic tone: Beijing reaffirmed support for multilateralism, welcomed stepped‑up high‑level contacts with the United States and Europe, and sought to reassure partners about continued openness even as it defended firm red lines on sovereignty. The NPC stressed parliamentary exchanges as part of broader diplomatic engagement and signalled that China will continue to court European investment and cooperation on infrastructure and energy projects.
The announcements arrive against an uneven external backdrop. Global growth is slowing, protectionist tendencies persist, and China’s imports and foreign direct investment have shown signs of faltering even as exports produced a record trade surplus last year. Beijing’s answer is a two‑pronged one: expand the domestic market to insulate growth and pursue international engagement to sustain trade and investment flows — but with a new emphasis on legal frameworks and technological resilience.
For international businesses and policymakers the implications are mixed. Greater legal codification and promises of market‑oriented administration offer improved predictability. At the same time, explicit emphasis on core‑tech autonomy and state‑led planning reinforces the reality that foreign capital will operate alongside intensified industrial policy. The coming months will tell whether legislative follow‑through and regulatory detail translate into a markedly more welcoming environment for imports and foreign investment, or whether strategic priorities will continue to tilt policy toward self‑reliance.