First assessment of China's 15th Five-Year Plan
Can Beijing's new economic blueprint deliver in an era of deflation, demographic decline, and technology warfare?
On 12 March 2026, China approved its 15th Five-Year Plan, setting the country's economic and strategic direction through 2030. In this episode of The Sound of Economics, Yuyun Zhan and Alicia García-Herrero sit down with Bert Hofman for a first assessment of the plan. They discuss its key priorities — from industrial policy and export-led technology growth to social policy and redistribution — and examine what Beijing's new blueprint means for the European economy.
This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics.
ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe.
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