📢 Policy Overview
China in March is focused on the "Two Sessions." This is the first Two Sessions of the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," and a series of policy signals related to the development direction of the next five years have been intensively released.
For global partners concerned about the Chinese market, the economic theme press conference held on March 6 is particularly noteworthy. Officials such as Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and NDRC Director Zheng Shanjie responded to questions about foreign trade policy trends, key points of the "15th Five-Year Plan," and measures to expand imports. Here is a summary of the core content for you.
01 "15th Five-Year Plan" New Progress: From Blueprint to Implementation
At this year's Two Sessions, the "Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (Draft)" was officially submitted to the National People's Congress for deliberation. NDRC Director Zheng Shanjie introduced the key deployments at the press conference.
Diplomats from various countries share their insights on China's 15th Five-Year Plan
Response to Demographic Changes
Addressing the trends of fewer children and aging, the "Outline (Draft)" prioritizes the construction of general high schools and the expansion of high-quality undergraduate education to cope with the "wave-like" impact of junior high, high school, and higher education age populations peaking in 2026, 2029, and 2032 respectively.
Original Innovation Breakthroughs
Explicitly identifying basic research and original innovation as shortcomings to be overcome, making systematic deployments to strengthen frontier technological breakthroughs and integrated development of education, technology, and talent.
Upgrading People's Well-being
Among the 20 main indicators listed in the "Outline (Draft)," those related to people's well-being account for the highest proportion, covering employment, income, education, healthcare, elderly care, and childcare, guiding the upgrade of livelihood security from "having" to "excellent."
Implementation of Major Projects
The "Outline (Draft)" plans 109 major projects, involving infrastructure areas such as the national water network, a new round of power grids, next-generation communication networks, and computing power networks.
Source: "15th Five-Year Plan" Outline (Draft) Key Content: Economic Theme Press Conference of the Fourth Session of the 14th NPC (Xinhua Net)
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02 New Foreign Trade Measures: Four Coordinations to Stabilize the Fundamentals
Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao stated that foreign trade in the first two months of this year continued the trend of last year, but the external environment remains complex and severe. Focusing on the "three pillars" of building a trade power—goods trade, service trade, and digital trade—the Ministry of Commerce will strengthen four "coordinations."
Incremental Policies Under Study
Wang Wentao revealed that focusing on new situations and problems, incremental policy measures will be studied and introduced around intermediate goods trade, supply chain cooperation, fiscal and taxation finance, and development environment. At the same time, accelerating the development of digital trade and green trade, promoting the export of AI products and green power equipment, and cultivating new momentum for foreign trade.
Market Diversification Continuing
In 2025, China's exports to the US fell by 19.5%, but overall exports grew by 6.1%. Wang Wentao described this change as "when the west is dark, the east shines; if the north is gone, there is the south," emphasizing continued promotion of trade and investment integration, increased support for companies participating in overseas exhibitions, signing more free trade agreements, and expanding the free trade "circle of friends."
Balanced Development of Import and Export
Last year's trade surplus was nearly $1.2 trillion. China will leverage its ultra-large market advantage to expand imports of agricultural products, high-quality consumer goods, advanced technical equipment, and key components, using platforms like the CIIE.
Service Trade as New Engine
In 2025, service trade growth reached 7.4%, 3.6 percentage points higher than goods trade. The Ministry of Commerce will expand exports of productive services like R&D, design, testing, and maintenance accompanying "Made in China" going global; and drive exports of professional services like finance, law, and consulting accompanying "China Investment" going global.
Source: Ministry of Commerce New Measures to Stabilize Foreign Trade: Minister Wang Wentao's Speech (People's Daily Online)
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03 New Import Opportunities: Multi-Departmental Joint Efforts
In addition to the signals from the economic theme press conference, several import-related policies in early March are worth noting.
1 Encouraged Import Service Catalog Revision
Seven departments including the Ministry of Commerce jointly released the revised "Catalogue of Encouraged Imported Services," adding two major categories: "Other Professional Services" and "Medical and Health Services." This aims to encourage the import of more high-quality services and expand diverse service supply.
2 "Export to China" Series Launched
In 2026, the Ministry of Commerce will organize over 100 "Export to China" series activities, promoting the linkage between "Export to China" and "Buy in China," building a bridge for supply and demand docking between Chinese and foreign enterprises.
3 Impressive Import Data
In 2025, China's import scale reached 18.5 trillion yuan, becoming the world's second-largest import market for 17 consecutive years. Imports from more than 130 countries and regions achieved growth, becoming the main export destination for nearly 80 countries.
Source: Revised "Catalogue of Encouraged Imported Services": Released by 7 Departments (China Trade News)
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04 New Investment Space: Over 5 Trillion Yuan Government Investment
At the State Council Information Office briefing on March 5, Chen Changsheng, member of the Government Work Report drafting team, introduced that government investment this year will exceed 5 trillion yuan.
Investment Scale and Direction
Including central budget investment, "dual heavy" construction, local government special bonds, and equipment updates, government investment funds will exceed 5 trillion yuan.
New Scenarios Opening Up
Opening up scenarios in biomedicine, aerospace, and low-altitude economy. For example, accelerating the opening of airspace resources and optimizing flight approval procedures to fully open scenarios like low-altitude logistics and urban governance.
New Infrastructure Focus
National water network, new round of power grids, next-generation communication networks, and computing power networks will drive massive investment. At the same time, actions to improve service quality and the growth of emerging industries will also open up space for private investment.
Source: Government Investment Exceeds 5 Trillion Yuan: SCIO Briefing (CCTV News)
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05 Institutional Opening-up: Legal Guarantee for Foreign Investment
On March 4, at the press conference of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, spokesman Lou Qinjian responded to the foreign investment environment.
Lou Qinjian stated that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China will continue to steadily expand institutional opening-up, safeguard the multilateral trading system, expand two-way investment cooperation space, and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. He emphasized: "China was, is, and will continue to be an ideal, safe, and promising investment destination for foreign businesses."
The NPC Standing Committee will further improve the open and transparent foreign-related legal system, promote the creation of a market-oriented, rule-of-law, and internationalized first-class business environment, and continuously consolidate the legal foundation for high-level opening up.
Source: Lou Qinjian on Foreign Investment Environment: NPC Press Conference (China.org.cn)
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Conclusion
The policy signals released in early March outline the basic contours of China's foreign trade and investment in 2026: incremental policies are on the way, the import door is opening wider, investment space is continuously expanding, and institutional opening-up is steadily advancing.
For China-Support's overseas clients, these changes mean: the process of purchasing Chinese products will be more convenient and choices more abundant; expectations for investing in the Chinese market will be more stable and the environment more transparent; and cooperation with Chinese partners will be deeper and fields broader.
We will continue to pay attention to the subsequent implementation details of policies and provide you with timely interpretation and service support. If you need to know how a specific policy applies to your industry, please feel free to contact us.
Key Information Sources Summary
| Policy Area | Core Content | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| "15th Five-Year Plan" | Outline (Draft) review, 109 major projects | Economic Theme Press Conference (Xinhua) | View |
| New Foreign Trade Measures | Four coordinations, incremental policies under study | Minister Wang Wentao (People's Daily) | View |
| Encouraged Import Services | Revised catalog, adding medical & health services | 7 Departments (China Trade News) | View |
| Government Investment | Over 5 trillion yuan, new scenarios opening | SCIO Briefing (CCTV) | View |
| Foreign Investment Env | Institutional opening-up, legal guarantee | Lou Qinjian (China.org.cn) | View |
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