Chinese Premier Li Qiang Calls for Global Openness and Progress at Development Forum

| 410 articles from RT, Dawn, El Universal, CBS News and 26 more

What's Happening

Chinese Premier Li Qiang stated at the China Development Forum that protectionism is not a panacea for solving problems and called for opening up and technological progress to drive new market growth. He also said that power politics is running rampant and calls for fairness and justice are growing louder. Concurrently, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, announced plans to steadily promote high-level opening up of the financial sector, deepening market interconnectivity and cross-border payment systems. These statements follow a period where the People's Bank of China named capital market stability as a major task for 2026, amidst a 1.39 percent drop in the Shanghai Composite Index on March 19.

How We Got Here

The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China's economy achieved stable year-on-year GDP growth of 5 percent in 2025, with its economic aggregate exceeding 140 trillion yuan for the first time, and per capita GDP reaching 99,665 yuan. This economic performance was also highlighted by the Global Times, which reported the same 5% GDP growth for 2025. Concurrently, Chinese anti-corruption authorities stated that over 983,000 individuals were disciplined in an anti-corruption campaign during the previous year, with these figures released in January. In January, Beijing confirmed investigations against two senior military officials, Zhang Youxia, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Liu Zhenli, a member of the CMC and chief of staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department. They were accused of serious discipline and law violations. Towards the end of January, the National Museum of China in Beijing launched a large-scale exhibition themed around the Year of the Horse, showcasing more than 120 cultural relics. As February began, Chief Executive John Lee stated that Hong Kong would draft its first five-year development blueprint to better align with the national 15th Five-Year Plan. Economic data from Vietnam Customs showed a significant surge in Vietnam's exports to China, increasing by 70.8% year-on-year to $6.32 billion in January 2026, with exports of telephones and mobile phone parts to China rising by 117%. This period also saw advancements in autonomous vehicle technology, with WeRide and Uber announcing an expansion to deploy at least 1,200 robotaxis across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh by 2027. Further developments in autonomous driving included Pony.ai's announcement that the first mass-produced bZ4X robotaxi, developed in collaboration with Toyota, had rolled off the assembly line, with plans to produce over 1,000 such vehicles in 2026 for commercial services in China's Tier 1 cities. Baidu and Uber also announced a partnership to deploy Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing services in Dubai. Meanwhile, the China Securities Journal reported a brisk IPO market in Hong Kong, with total funds raised exceeding HK$79.12 billion in early 2026, marking a 1,220 percent year-on-year increase. China's Ministry of Transport projected a record 9.5 billion cross-regional passenger trips for the 40-day 2026 Spring Festival travel season. Major AI companies, including Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and ByteDance, launched digital red envelope campaigns with an estimated total value of over 4.5 billion yuan ahead of the Spring Festival. By mid-February, a national consumer goods trade-in program had generated nearly 196.39 billion yuan in sales, with auto trade-ins accounting for a significant portion. Leading up to the Spring Festival, international flight bookings to China surged by over 400 percent year-on-year, with notable increases from Argentina and European countries. Hainan Province's offshore duty-free transactions reached 1.11 billion yuan in the first week of the Spring Festival travel rush. During the holiday period, humanoid 'Wu Bots' from Unitree Robotics performed kung-fu maneuvers on China Central Television, showcasing technological advancements. Following the Spring Festival holiday, multiple Chinese provinces held high-level meetings to establish economic priorities for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), focusing on areas like artificial intelligence, innovation, and quantum technology. China's Ministry of Transport reported a record 2.8 billion cross-regional passenger trips during the nine-day Spring Festival holiday. A study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies claimed that approximately 100 senior officers in the People's Liberation Army had been dismissed or sidelined since 2022. An official from the Supreme People's Procuratorate stated that China faces intensifying risks of technology leakage and vowed that procuratorial authorities would safeguard the country's technological and economic security. The Pentagon reportedly planned to spend an additional $12.6 billion to improve surveillance of China's military maneuvers, submarines, and satellites, according to a budget document sent to the U.S. Congress. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that the U.S. was using the "China threat" as a pretext to strengthen its military deployment in the Asia-Pacific. President Xi Jinping instructed senior Party officials to ensure a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), emphasizing alignment with central Party leadership and strict implementation of conduct guidelines. The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee discussed a draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan and a draft government work report. Concurrently, the Communist Party of China launched an educational campaign for officials to cultivate a correct understanding of political achievements and correct policy deviations. Pan Xiaodong, secretary general of the Ministry of Science and Technology, announced the launch of a national venture capital guidance fund with an estimated total scale of 1 trillion yuan, aimed at investing in early-stage, small, long-term, and hard-tech enterprises to strengthen technological self-reliance. Pan Xiaodong also stated that bank credit support for tech innovation had been significantly enhanced, with the scale of relending for technological innovation and transformation increased to 1.2 trillion yuan. China's National People's Congress convened in Beijing for the annual Two Sessions, where thousands of delegates gathered to set economic and fiscal targets, with a major focus on adopting the country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). Premier Li Qiang delivered the government work report, which included commitments to implement the "One Country, Two Systems" policy for Hong Kong and Macao, and support their integration into national development. The government also announced a 7% increase in military spending and a 9.3% increase in its diplomatic budget for the current year. During the Two Sessions, China set its annual economic growth target at a range of 4.5% to 5%, the lowest expansion goal since 1991. Premier Li Qiang announced plans to increase spending on science and technology by 10% and raise national investment in research and development by at least 7% per year until 2030. President Xi Jinping attended a military and armed police delegation meeting, warning against disloyalty and corruption within the military and calling for strict oversight in key areas during the next five-year plan. Lei Haichao, head of China's National Health Commission, stated that the average life expectancy of the Chinese population reached 79.25 years in 2025. China's customs authority announced that exports increased by 21.8 percent in US dollar terms in January and February compared to the same period last year, resulting in a trade surplus of 213.6 billion US dollars. The 14th National People's Congress held the closing meeting of its fourth session, with President Xi Jinping and other Party and state leaders attending. India's combined merchandise and services exports reached $76.13 billion in February 2026, an 11.04% increase from $68.56 billion in February 2025, while imports surged 21.61% to $80.09 billion from $65.84 billion a year earlier, leading to a trade deficit of $3.96 billion compared to $2.72 billion in the same month last year. The Supreme People's Court of China released a set of typical cases on consumer rights protection, focusing on food and drug consumption, on World Consumer Rights Day. The Communist Party of China Central Committee asserts that an article by President Xi Jinping on promoting high-quality development of the marine economy will be published on Monday in the sixth issue of Qiushi Journal.

Timeline

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