By Ms Yan Yuqing
The recently concluded Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee reviewed and adopted the Recommendations for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, drawing a clear blueprint for China’s development in the next five years and sounding the clarion call for advancing towards the basic realization of socialist modernization.
Formulating and implementing five-year plans in a scientific and sequential manner is an important experience in the CPC’s governance and a significant political strength of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Since the first five-year plan in 1953, China has formulated and implemented 14 consecutive five-year plans. During this time, China has transformed from an impoverished agricultural country into the world’s largest manufacturing country and the second-largest economy. These five-year plans have served as historical markers, chronicling the journey of Chinese modernization.
As the 14th Five-Year Plan period approaches its successful conclusion, China’s economic and social development has achieved new historic accomplishments, laying a more solid material and technological foundation for Chinese modernization. The country’s economic aggregate has continuously reached new milestones and is projected to reach approximately 140 trillion yuan (around $19.6 trillion) by the end of this year. With an average annual contribution of about 30% to global economic growth, China has firmly established itself as a crucial driving force for world economic growth.
The 15th Five-Year Plan established at the plenary session outlines seven major goals for China’s economic and social development over the next five years: first, achieving significant progress in high-quality development; second, substantially enhancing the level of scientific and technological self-reliance and strength; third, making new breakthroughs in further deepening reforms comprehensively; fourth, markedly elevating the degree of social civility; fifth, continuously improving the quality of life for the people; sixth, achieving new and major advancements in building a Beautiful China; and seventh, further strengthening the barriers to national security.
The plan also lays out twelve strategic tasks, including building a modern industrial system (focusing on the real economy), accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, constructing a strong domestic market, and expanding high-level opening up to the world. It further clarifies that China will continue to unwaveringly deepen reforms comprehensively and expand high-level opening up, sharing development opportunities with countries around the world. This not only charts the course for China’s economic and social development but also injects strategic certainty and developmental stability into a turbulent world.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, not only has China achieved significant development accomplishments, but the China-Nigeria strategic partnership has also realized leapfrog development. The cooperation between the two sides has yielded fruitful results, benefiting the peoples of both countries. Nigeria has maintained its position as China’s largest engineering contract market, second-largest export market and trading partner, as well as a major investment destination in Africa. In 2023, bilateral trade reached a historic high of USD 22.5 billion. In 2024, China’s imports from Nigeria amounted to USD 2.99 billion, marking a year-on-year increase of 25.8%. From January to September 2025, bilateral trade reached USD 20 billion, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 32.6%. Last September, during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), President Xi Jinping and President Tinubu held a successful meeting, where they jointly decided to elevate the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is an important milestone in the history of our relations, opening vast space for future cooperation.
In the next five years, China-Nigeria cooperation has boundless prospects. China’s promotion of high-quality development and construction of a new development pattern will provide more market opportunities, investment opportunities, and cooperation opportunities for countries around the world, including Nigeria. Under the framework of the “the Belt and Road” and the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, China is willing to more closely link the 15th Five Year Plan with Nigeria’s Renewed Hope agenda and its eight priority areas, and take the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Nigeria in 2026 and the Year of People to People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Africa as an opportunity to deepen practical cooperation in various fields such as infrastructure, coordinated upgrading of industrial chains, digital technology, agricultural modernization and food security, people to people exchanges, education and training.
Nigeria, the most populous country and a major economy in Africa, has great potential and a bright future. China is always a trusted partner of Nigeria. As an African proverb wisely states: If you want to go fast, walk alone; if you want to go far, walk together. On the path to achieving national development and rejuvenation, China and Nigeria share common aspirations and resonate with each other. Under the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session, the two countries will take the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Nigeria as a new starting point, jointly promote cooperation in various fields to a new level, better benefit the people of the two countries, and make greater contributions to building a closer China-Africa and China-Nigeria community with a shared future and world peace and development!
Ms Yan Yuqing, Chinese Consul-General in Lagos
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