Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning
Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning
Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No. 72
March 12, 2026
The Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning, which has been adopted at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 12, 2026, is hereby promulgated and shall become effective from the date of promulgation
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning
(Adopted at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 12, 2026)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Formulation
Chapter III Review and Approval
Chapter IV Implementation
Chapter V Supervision of Plan Implementation
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution with a view to standardizing the formulation of national development plans, ensuring their implementation, strengthening the strategic guiding role of national development plans, improving the macroeconomic governance system, promoting high-quality development, and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and fully building China into a modern socialist country.
Article 2 This law shall apply to the formulation, review, approval, implementation, implementation supervision, and other work relating to national development plans.
For the purposes of this Law, the national development plan refers to the outline of the five-year plan for national economic and social development of the People's Republic of China, including the long-range objectives set forth as needed.
Article 3 In the work relating to national development plans, it is imperative to follow the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the Party's lines, principles and policies and the CPC Central Committee's decisions and arrangements, follow a people-centered development philosophy, practice people's democracy in the whole process, comprehensively and accurately implement the new development philosophy, strive for high-quality development, coordinate development and security, comprehensively deepen reform, build a high-standard socialist market economy system, fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and better leverage the role of the government, thereby fully advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.
Article 4 National development plans are phased deployments and arrangements of the socialist modernization strategy within the planning period. They mainly explain national strategic intent, clarify government work priorities, guide and standardize the behaviors of social entities, and serve as the blueprint and action plan for economic and social development within the planning period, the important basis for the government in performing such functions as economic regulation, market oversight, social management, public services, and ecological environmental protection, and the general guideline for other plans at various levels and of various types.
The State shall establish a sound national planning system that is led by national development plans, underpinned by territorial spatial plans, supported by special plans and regional plans, and jointly composed of national and local plans, with accurate positioning, clear boundaries, complementary functions, and unified linkage, thereby creating a planning synergy.
Article 5 The formulation and implementation of national development plans shall adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, respect actual conditions, adopt a nationwide unified approach, promote democracy, pool collective wisdom, and uphold the principle of statutory planning.
National development plans shall be formulated in a more scientific, democratic, legalistic, and standardized way, embodying strategic vision, macro-level orientation, and policy guidance, while enhancing their directive and binding functions.
Article 6 The State shall strengthen the organization and coordination of the implementation of national development plans, establish and improve mechanisms for planning linkage, policy synergy, monitoring and evaluation, and supervision to ensure the effective implementation of national development plans.
Chapter II Formulation
Article 7 National development plans shall be formulated under the organization of the State Council based on the proposals, decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee regarding the formulation of five-year plans for national economic and social development.
The competent authority responsible for drafting national development plans under the State Council (the "national development planning authority") shall, in concert with relevant departments of the State, undertake the specific tasks for the formulation of national development plans.
Article 8 A national development plan shall include the following main contents:
(1) Analysis of the development environment;
(2) Guiding principles;
(3) Major goals and indicators;
(4) Major strategic tasks, major policy measures, major construction projects; and
(5) Safeguards for the implementation of the plan.
Article 9 The formulation of national development plans shall follow natural laws, economic laws, and social development laws, integrate domestic and international considerations, combine goal-oriented and problem-oriented approaches, connect medium and long-term goals with short-term goals, coordinate comprehensive planning and focused priorities, and unify strategic version and operational feasibility.
Article 10 The formulation of national development plans shall be preceded by preliminary research.
In the preliminary research, efforts shall be made to comprehensively and profoundly explore major overall, forward-looking, key, and deep-seated issues in economic and social development, scientifically assess the development environment and trends aligned with national development strategies, accurately grasp the stage-specific characteristics and development direction, and propose basic ideas for promoting high-quality development.
Article 11 In the formulation of national development plans, it is imperative to consider factors such as support conditions for elements, resource and environmental carrying capacity, fiscal capacity, and major risk prevention, enhance the management of medium and long-term government expenditures and reinforce the multi-angle demonstration and multi-scheme comparison and selection in respect of proposed major goals and indicator s for economic and social development, major strategic tasks, major policy measures, major construction projects, among others.
Article 12 In the formulation of national development plans, it is imperative to integrate top-level design with public consultation, improve the public participation mechanism, encourage social participation, solicit public comments and suggestions through the internet and by other means, and extensively gather the opinions from the people, enterprises, public institutions, and various parties in the society through multiple methods.
Article 13 In the formulation of national development plans, the expert consultation and demonstration system shall be improved.
......
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No. 72
March 12, 2026
The Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning, which has been adopted at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 12, 2026, is hereby promulgated and shall become effective from the date of promulgation
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Law of the People's Republic of China on National Development Planning
(Adopted at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 12, 2026)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Formulation
Chapter III Review and Approval
Chapter IV Implementation
Chapter V Supervision of Plan Implementation
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution with a view to standardizing the formulation of national development plans, ensuring their implementation, strengthening the strategic guiding role of national development plans, improving the macroeconomic governance system, promoting high-quality development, and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and fully building China into a modern socialist country.
Article 2 This law shall apply to the formulation, review, approval, implementation, implementation supervision, and other work relating to national development plans.
For the purposes of this Law, the national development plan refers to the outline of the five-year plan for national economic and social development of the People's Republic of China, including the long-range objectives set forth as needed.
Article 3 In the work relating to national development plans, it is imperative to follow the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the Party's lines, principles and policies and the CPC Central Committee's decisions and arrangements, follow a people-centered development philosophy, practice people's democracy in the whole process, comprehensively and accurately implement the new development philosophy, strive for high-quality development, coordinate development and security, comprehensively deepen reform, build a high-standard socialist market economy system, fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and better leverage the role of the government, thereby fully advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.
Article 4 National development plans are phased deployments and arrangements of the socialist modernization strategy within the planning period. They mainly explain national strategic intent, clarify government work priorities, guide and standardize the behaviors of social entities, and serve as the blueprint and action plan for economic and social development within the planning period, the important basis for the government in performing such functions as economic regulation, market oversight, social management, public services, and ecological environmental protection, and the general guideline for other plans at various levels and of various types.
The State shall establish a sound national planning system that is led by national development plans, underpinned by territorial spatial plans, supported by special plans and regional plans, and jointly composed of national and local plans, with accurate positioning, clear boundaries, complementary functions, and unified linkage, thereby creating a planning synergy.
Article 5 The formulation and implementation of national development plans shall adhere to the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, respect actual conditions, adopt a nationwide unified approach, promote democracy, pool collective wisdom, and uphold the principle of statutory planning.
National development plans shall be formulated in a more scientific, democratic, legalistic, and standardized way, embodying strategic vision, macro-level orientation, and policy guidance, while enhancing their directive and binding functions.
Article 6 The State shall strengthen the organization and coordination of the implementation of national development plans, establish and improve mechanisms for planning linkage, policy synergy, monitoring and evaluation, and supervision to ensure the effective implementation of national development plans.
Chapter II Formulation
Article 7 National development plans shall be formulated under the organization of the State Council based on the proposals, decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee regarding the formulation of five-year plans for national economic and social development.
The competent authority responsible for drafting national development plans under the State Council (the "national development planning authority") shall, in concert with relevant departments of the State, undertake the specific tasks for the formulation of national development plans.
Article 8 A national development plan shall include the following main contents:
(1) Analysis of the development environment;
(2) Guiding principles;
(3) Major goals and indicators;
(4) Major strategic tasks, major policy measures, major construction projects; and
(5) Safeguards for the implementation of the plan.
Article 9 The formulation of national development plans shall follow natural laws, economic laws, and social development laws, integrate domestic and international considerations, combine goal-oriented and problem-oriented approaches, connect medium and long-term goals with short-term goals, coordinate comprehensive planning and focused priorities, and unify strategic version and operational feasibility.
Article 10 The formulation of national development plans shall be preceded by preliminary research.
In the preliminary research, efforts shall be made to comprehensively and profoundly explore major overall, forward-looking, key, and deep-seated issues in economic and social development, scientifically assess the development environment and trends aligned with national development strategies, accurately grasp the stage-specific characteristics and development direction, and propose basic ideas for promoting high-quality development.
Article 11 In the formulation of national development plans, it is imperative to consider factors such as support conditions for elements, resource and environmental carrying capacity, fiscal capacity, and major risk prevention, enhance the management of medium and long-term government expenditures and reinforce the multi-angle demonstration and multi-scheme comparison and selection in respect of proposed major goals and indicator s for economic and social development, major strategic tasks, major policy measures, major construction projects, among others.
Article 12 In the formulation of national development plans, it is imperative to integrate top-level design with public consultation, improve the public participation mechanism, encourage social participation, solicit public comments and suggestions through the internet and by other means, and extensively gather the opinions from the people, enterprises, public institutions, and various parties in the society through multiple methods.
Article 13 In the formulation of national development plans, the expert consultation and demonstration system shall be improved.
......