On March 13, 2026, the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of China (commonly known as the “Two Sessions”), the most important annual national conferences of the country, concluded their 2026 round. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national Economic and Social Development, commonly known as the “15^th Five-year Plan” (hereinafter referred to as “the Plan”) has been approved.

It systematically lay out the country’s economic and social development blueprint for 2026–2030. Consisting of 18 sections and 62 chapters, it reviews major achievements during the 14th Five‑Year period (e.g., GDP exceeding RMB 140 trillion), analyzes profound domestic and international changes, and presents the guiding principles and priorities for the 15th Five‑Year period.

As the key blueprint of the social and economic development for China in the next five years, plannings for standardization and standard systems frequently appeared in the Plan, and the key contents that may relate to foreign stakeholders, especially manufacturers, are summarized as below:

Optimizing and upgrading traditional industries: To upgrade and improve traditional industries, China will strengthen the guidance of national standards, empower them with digital and intelligent technologies as well as green technologies, and enforce stricter regulations on environmental protection, safety, and energy efficiency, so as to consolidate and enhance the position and competitiveness of Chinese industries in the global division of labor. Standards will be updated and upgraded, and management of safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency, quality and other aspects will be tightened. Market‑based mergers and restructuring will be promoted, and the orderly exit of backward and inefficient production capacity will be facilitated.

Fostering a healthy and orderly development ecosystem: To foster a healthy and orderly development ecosystem, an open, shared and secure national integrated data market will be built. Rules and standards for data circulation and trading will be improved at a faster pace, the layout of data trading institutions will be optimized, and the development of third‑party professional service providers will be regulated.

Deepening the development of a unified national market: To deepen the development of a unified national market, a harmonized and unified national standards system will be established, the coverage of mandatory national standards will be expanded, the development of standards for emerging industries will be advanced, and the international alignment of standards will be enhanced.

Actively expanding voluntary opening up: i) To actively expand voluntary opening up, China will align with high‑standard international economic and trade rules to broaden opening up, promote the alignment and compatibility of domestic and international rules, regulations, management practices and standards, and create a transparent, stable and predictable institutional environment. ii) High‑level opening up will be effectively coordinated with deep reform, and legislation, policy adjustments and standards revisions in key areas will be accelerated. iii) Mutual recognition of rules and standards for energy efficiency, water efficiency and carbon footprint of key products will be promoted in the international community, and both mandatory and voluntary disclosure of corporate climate and environmental information will be advanced.

Raising the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation: To raise the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation, the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade will be advanced, and the reform of standards and certification for domestic and foreign trade will be deepened.

Achieving carbon peak in a steady and well‑sequenced manner: Rules and standards for product carbon footprint accounting will be formulated, carbon emission caps for key products will be issued as standards, and a product carbon labeling certification system will be established.

Continuously improving environmental quality: To continuously improve environmental quality, with key regions such as the Beijing‑Tianjin‑Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta etc. as the main battlegrounds, efforts will be made to strengthen the control of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), deeply advance ultra‑low emission retrofits in key industries, promote source substitution and whole‑process management of volatile organic compounds, and formulate the next stage of vehicle emission and fuel quality standards. The performance‑based hierarchical management of air environment will be deepened, and emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds will be reduced by more than 8% each, with further elimination of heavy air pollution days.

Improving the modern environmental governance system: To improve the modern environmental governance system, the Ecological and Environmental Code of China will be implemented, and the systems of responsibility, supervision, laws, regulations and standards will be strengthened to raise the effectiveness of environmental governance. Pollutant discharge and environmental quality standards will be updated, and a system of environmental credit supervision will be established.

Improving the policy system for green development: To improve the policy system for green development, a system of green and low‑carbon standards will be established and improved, and efforts will be made to lead the improvement and mutual recognition of international rules and standards.