China Sets Roadmap to Achieve Socialist Modernization by 2035

Nov 13, 2025 at 09:22 AM

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Lanka Leader

China plans to use three consecutive Five-Year Plans to fundamentally achieve socialist modernization by 2035, said Mei Jin, Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, speaking at a workshop on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan held yesterday at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI) in Colombo 7.

The workshop, titled “New Opportunities for Shared Development,” was jointly organized by the LKI and the Friends of the Silk Road Society to brief journalists and political activists on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. Discussions focused on the connection between China’s planning model and its economic success, opportunities for China–Sri Lanka cooperation, and China’s governance model and its contribution to global poverty reduction.

The event was moderated by Dr. Nishara Mendis, Executive Director of the LKI. Research officers from the Institute presented analyses on various aspects of China’s Five-Year Plans. Among the distinguished participants were Counselor Mei Jin and attache Jin Enze from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka.

In his address, Mei Jin emphasized China’s remarkable transformation over the past seven decades.

“Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the country was poor and weak — even daily necessities like matches and nails had to be imported,” he said. “Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and through the hard work of the Chinese people, China has achieved the largest, fastest, and most sustained development miracle in human history.”

He noted that since the beginning of the reform and opening-up era, 770 million rural residents have been lifted out of poverty, accounting for more than 70% of global poverty reduction during the same period. Today, China is the world’s second-largest economy, the largest industrial nation, and the largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, with a per capita income exceeding USD 13,000.

From 1952 to 2024, China’s GDP grew at an average annual rate of 7.9%, Mei highlighted. During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) period, China’s total economic output reached about USD 18.9 trillion, representing 17% of global GDP and contributing roughly 30% of global economic growth annually.

Mei attributed China’s success to two main factors — the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the scientific formulation and steady implementation of Five-Year Plans.

“General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that the formulation and execution of Five-Year Plans are a major advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” he said. “They have guided China’s sustained economic and social development since 1953.”

According to Mei, the first five plans helped establish China’s industrial foundation, while subsequent plans led to the realization of a moderately prosperous society and major advancements in technology, green energy, and innovation.

He added that the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan will mark the start of a long-term roadmap for modernization.

“China plans to use three Five-Year Plans to fundamentally realize socialist modernization by 2035,” Mei said. “Building on that, three additional Five-Year Plans will guide the effort to build a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century.”