National Development Planning Law of the PRC — Full English Translation (2026)

Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Fourteenth National People’s Congress on March 12, 2026

Effective: March 12, 2026

Table of Contents

Chapter I — General Provisions

Article 1 — This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution for the purposes of regulating the formulation of national development plans and safeguarding their implementation, strengthening the strategic guiding role of national development plans, improving the macroeconomic governance system, promoting high-quality development, advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

Article 2 — This Law applies to the formulation, review and approval, implementation, and supervision of national development plans.

For the purposes of this Law, a “national development plan” means 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 proposed as necessary.

Article 3 — The work of national development planning shall uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the Party’s line, principles, and policies and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, practice whole-process people’s democracy, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, strive to promote high-quality development, coordinate development and security, comprehensively deepen reform, build a high-level socialist market economy system, fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better play the role of the government, and comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization.

Article 4 — A national development plan is a phased arrangement and deployment of the socialist modernization strategy within the planning period, mainly clarifying the strategic intent of the state, specifying the priorities of government work, and guiding and regulating the conduct of social entities; it is the blueprint and program of action for economic and social development during the planning period, an important basis for the government to perform its functions such as economic regulation, market supervision, social management, public services, and ecological and environmental protection, and the overarching guide for other plans at all levels and of all types.

The state shall establish and improve a national planning system that is led by the national development plan, based on territorial spatial plans, supported by special plans and regional plans, and composed of both national and local plans, with accurate positioning, clear boundaries, complementary functions, and unified alignment, so as to form synergy among plans.

Article 5 — The formulation and implementation of national development plans shall uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, proceed from reality, maintain a unified national approach, promote democracy and pool wisdom, and adhere to the principle that plans are statutory.

The formulation of national development plans shall embody strategic, macro, and policy-oriented characteristics, strengthen the guiding and binding functions, and raise the scientific, democratic, rule-of-law, and standardized level of plan formulation.

Article 6 — The state shall strengthen the organization and coordination of the implementation of national development plans, establish and improve mechanisms for plan alignment, policy coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and supervision, and ensure the effective implementation of national development plans.

Chapter II — Formulation of National Development Plans

Article 7 — A national development plan shall be organized and formulated by the State Council in accordance with the suggestions and decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee concerning the formulation of the Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development.

The competent department of the State Council responsible for drafting national development plans (hereinafter referred to as the competent department of the State Council for national development planning), together with the relevant departments of the state, shall undertake the specific work of formulating the national development plan.

Article 8 — A national development plan shall include the following main contents:

(1) an analysis of the development environment;

(2) guiding principles;

(3) major objectives and indicators;

(4) major strategic tasks, major policy measures, and major engineering projects; and

(5) safeguards for the implementation of the plan.

Article 9 — The formulation of a national development plan shall follow the laws of nature, the laws of the economy, and the laws of social development; coordinate domestic and international considerations; combine goal orientation with problem orientation; connect medium- and long-term objectives with short-term objectives; balance comprehensive planning with highlighted priorities; and unify strategic and operational considerations.

Article 10 — Preliminary research shall be carried out in formulating a national development plan.

Preliminary research shall comprehensively and thoroughly study overall, forward-looking, key, and deep-seated major issues of economic and social development; scientifically assess the development environment and development trends centering on the national development strategic arrangements; accurately grasp the phased characteristics and development directions; and put forward basic approaches for promoting high-quality development.

Article 11 — In formulating a national development plan, factors such as the conditions for factor support, the carrying capacity of resources and the environment, fiscal affordability, and the prevention of major risks shall be comprehensively considered; the management of the government’s medium- and long-term expenditure matters shall be strengthened; and multi-angle demonstration and comparison and selection among multiple options shall be strengthened for the major objectives and indicators of economic and social development, major strategic tasks, major policy measures, major engineering projects, and the like that are to be proposed.

Article 12 — The formulation of a national development plan shall unify top-level design with soliciting advice from the people, improve the mechanism for public participation, encourage public participation, openly solicit opinions and suggestions from the public through the Internet and other channels, and adopt multiple means to broadly hear the opinions and suggestions of the people, enterprises, public institutions, and all sectors of society.

Article 13 — In formulating a national development plan, the expert consultation and demonstration system shall be improved, experts in relevant fields shall be organized to conduct demonstration on major issues in the formulation of the national development plan, and a demonstration report shall be produced.

Experts participating in consultation and demonstration shall safeguard national interests and the public interest of society, provide consultation and demonstration opinions objectively, fairly, scientifically, and rigorously, and bear confidentiality obligations in accordance with the law for state secrets, work secrets, and the like that they become aware of during consultation and demonstration.

Article 14 — In formulating a national development plan, the means of formulation shall be innovated, modern information technology shall be comprehensively applied, and the auxiliary and supporting role of institutions of higher education, scientific research institutions, think tanks, industry associations, and the like shall be fully leveraged.

Article 15 — The draft national development plan shall be drafted by the competent department of the State Council for national development planning together with the relevant departments of the state, and reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council for deliberation in accordance with the prescribed procedures.

When submitting the draft national development plan, the competent department of the State Council for national development planning shall attach the demonstration report and other relevant materials.

Chapter III — Review and Approval of National Development Plans

Article 16 — After the draft national development plan is reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council for deliberation, the State Council shall, in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law, submit it to the National People’s Congress for review and approval.

When submitting the draft national development plan to the National People’s Congress, the State Council shall attach the summary evaluation report on the implementation of the national development plan for the previous planning period and other relevant materials.

Article 17 — Before the draft national development plan is submitted to the National People’s Congress for review and approval, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall organize the relevant special committees of the National People’s Congress and the working bodies of the Standing Committee to carry out special investigations and studies in a timely manner centering on the formulation of the national development plan.

Article 18 — Before a session of the National People’s Congress is held, the competent department of the State Council for national development planning shall report to the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress and the relevant special committees on the basic situation, preliminary plans, and the like of the formulation of the national development plan, and the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee shall conduct a preliminary review. The preliminary review opinions shall be sent to the competent department of the State Council for national development planning.

When conducting the preliminary review, the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee shall invite deputies to the National People’s Congress to participate.

Article 19 — When a session of the National People’s Congress is held, the draft national development plan shall be reviewed by the various delegations and reviewed by the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee and the relevant special committees.

The Financial and Economic Affairs Committee shall, based on the review opinions of the various delegations and the relevant special committees, review the draft national development plan and present a report on the review results to the Presidium of the National People’s Congress.

After the Presidium of the National People’s Congress deliberates and approves the report on the review results, it shall print and distribute it to the session, and submit the draft resolution on approving the national development plan to the plenary session of the National People’s Congress for a vote.

Article 20 — A national development plan shall be promulgated and implemented after being reviewed and approved by the National People’s Congress.

After a national development plan is promulgated, it shall not be adjusted without statutory procedures.

Article 21 — Where a national development plan needs to be adjusted upon evaluation during its implementation, the State Council shall put forward an adjustment plan and, after obtaining the consent of the Party Central Committee, submit it to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for review and approval.

An adjustment plan for the national development plan that has been reviewed and approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall be promptly promulgated, and reported to the next session of the National People’s Congress.

Chapter IV — Implementation of National Development Plans

Article 22 — The State Council shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of the national development plan.

The competent department of the State Council for national development planning shall, together with the relevant departments of the state, draft the implementation opinions for the national development plan, which shall be implemented after approval in accordance with the prescribed procedures.

All regions and departments shall, in accordance with the national development plan and its implementation opinions, specify the concrete work arrangements and promotion measures involving their respective regions and fields.

Article 23 — In organizing the formulation of the annual plan for national economic and social development, the State Council shall maintain alignment with the national development plan, implement the development objectives and major strategic tasks set forth in the national development plan, decompose the major indicators determined by the national development plan into the annual indicator system, set annual objectives, properly achieve comprehensive balance among years, and reasonably determine the priorities of annual work in accordance with the major strategic tasks determined by the national development plan.

The annual plan for national economic and social development shall be implemented after being submitted to the National People’s Congress for review and approval in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law. The State Council shall, in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law, report to the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee on the implementation of the annual plan for national economic and social development.

The competent department of the State Council for national development planning shall, together with the relevant departments of the state, undertake the specific work of formulating the annual plan for national economic and social development.

Article 24 — The state shall coordinate the formulation of plans at all levels and of all types and strengthen alignment and coordination among plans.

National-level territorial spatial plans, special plans, and regional plans shall be formulated in accordance with the national development plan and adjusted in a timely manner in accordance with regulations.

The state shall improve the mechanisms for the implementation of the national development plan by plans at all levels and of all types, such as territorial spatial plans, special plans, and regional plans; improve and standardize management systems such as catalog lists, filing, and alignment and coordination of plan formulation; strengthen information sharing; and ensure that plans at all levels and of all types are coordinated and consistent with the national development plan in terms of major objectives, development directions, overall layouts, major strategic tasks, major policy measures, major engineering projects, and risk prevention and control.

Article 25 — The state shall improve the mechanisms for coordination between the national development plan and macro policies and for work synergy; and, in light of the economic and social development situation and centering on the implementation of the national development plan, reasonably determine the orientation of macro policies, promote the coordinated and concerted efforts of fiscal, monetary, industrial, scientific and technological, price, employment, consumption, investment, trade, and land policies, and enhance the consistency of macro policy orientation.

Article 26 — When formulating policies, all regions and departments shall conform to the directions of industrial development and structural adjustment and the directions of optimizing regional development and the spatial pattern as determined by the national development plan.

The formulation of major arrangements for the distribution of productive forces and of public policies concerning natural resources, population, ecology and the environment, and society shall be subordinate to the national development plan and serve its implementation.

Article 27 — All regions and departments shall rationally allocate public resources and actively guide social resources to support the implementation of the major strategic tasks, major policy measures, and major engineering projects determined by the national development plan.

Central fiscal funds shall be prioritized for the major strategic tasks, major policy measures, and major engineering projects determined by the national development plan, and the management and use of central fiscal funds shall be implemented in accordance with the laws and regulations on budgets.

Article 28 — The State Council shall strengthen dynamic monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the national development plan, and the monitoring and evaluation results shall serve as an important basis for strengthening and improving the implementation of the national development plan.

The competent department of the State Council for national development planning shall, together with the relevant departments of the state, undertake the specific work of dynamic monitoring and evaluation.

Chapter V — Supervision of the Implementation of National Development Plans

Article 29 — The National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee shall, in accordance with the law, supervise the implementation of the national development plan.

The Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress and the relevant special committees shall undertake the specific work of supervising the implementation of the national development plan.

Article 30 — At the mid-term stage of the implementation of the national development plan, the State Council shall organize a mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the national development plan, produce a mid-term evaluation report, and, after obtaining the consent of the Party Central Committee, submit it to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for deliberation.

After deliberation, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress shall forward its deliberation opinions to the State Council for study and handling, and the State Council shall submit a written report to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the results of the study and handling.

The mid-term evaluation report on the implementation of the national development plan, the deliberation opinions of the members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and the results of the State Council’s study and handling of the deliberation opinions shall be reported to deputies to the National People’s Congress and made public to society by appropriate means, so as to accept social supervision.

Before the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress deliberates the mid-term evaluation report on the implementation of the national development plan, the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee shall, together with the relevant special committees, carry out special investigations and studies and present an investigation and study report to the Standing Committee.

Article 31 — Before the end of the planning period of the national development plan, the State Council shall organize a summary evaluation of the implementation of the national development plan, produce a summary evaluation report, and, after obtaining the consent of the Party Central Committee, submit it to the National People’s Congress together with the draft national development plan for the next planning period submitted for review and approval.

Article 32 — The competent department of the State Council for national development planning shall, together with the relevant departments of the state, undertake the specific work of the mid-term evaluation and summary evaluation of the implementation of the national development plan.

Article 33 — Supervisory organs and audit organs shall, within the scope of their respective duties, supervise the implementation of the national development plan in accordance with the law.

Article 34 — The implementation of the national development plan shall serve as an important reference for assessing the performance of all regions and departments in performing their duties in accordance with the law.

Article 35 — State functionaries who abuse their power, neglect their duties, engage in favoritism and fraudulent practices, or commit other illegal acts in the work of national development planning shall be held accountable in accordance with the law.

Chapter VI — Supplementary Provisions

Article 36 — The draft outline of the Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be submitted to the competent department of the State Council for national development planning, and shall be aligned with the national development plan; after being reviewed and approved by the people’s congress at the corresponding level, it shall be submitted to the competent department of the State Council for national development planning for the record.

The outline of the Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development within the administrative area of a local government at or above the county level shall be aligned with the outline of the Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development at the next higher level, adhere to adapting measures to local conditions, and highlight local characteristics.

The procedures for the formulation, review and approval, implementation, and supervision of the outline of the Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development within the administrative area of a local government at or above the county level shall be implemented by reference to the relevant provisions of this Law.

Article 37 — The state shall adhere to the principle of “one country, two systems” and support the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region in proactively aligning with the national development plan and integrating into and serving the overall development of the country.

Article 38 — This Law shall come into force on the date of promulgation.