China’s New Five-Year Plan - Is the EU’s Competitiveness Agenda up for the Challenge?

The European China Knowledge Network (E-CKN) invites you to an invitation-only online discussion on “China’s New Five-Year Plan - Is the EU’s Competitiveness Agenda up for the Challenge?”, on Thursday, March 12 from 11:30 to 12:45 CET.

At the so-called “Two Sessions” currently taking place in Beijing, China’s leadership has laid out its guidelines for the economy and society through the next Five-Year Plan cycle. It takes a two-pronged approach: On the one hand, it aims to stabilize internal growth and welfare in terms of employment, social development, and a more stable environment for the private sector. On the other hand, it plans to drive forward with industrial upgrading, innovation, and a more integrated approach to national and economic security. These choices are set to harden China’s position in an intensifying geoeconomic competition.

For the EU, the implications will be immediate and structural. They will range from trade and investment frictions, through supply chain reshaping, to competition in strategic sectors such as embodied AI, smart manufacturing, clean technology or critical materials. The FYP will also provide the context for how China engages with Europe on climate, market access, and third-country partnerships, at a time when both are rebalancing their economic security policies.

In this off-the-record briefing, we will decode what the 15th Five-Year Plan means for the future of China and consider how the EU should react.