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10 steps Hong Kong can take to make the most of its 5-year plan

Under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s leadership, Hong Kong is drawing up its first five-year plan to complement Beijing’s 2026-30 blueprint. A two-month public consultation…

By Samantha Johnson / June 18, 2026
China’s five-year plan responds to “great changes unseen in a century”, prescient words used by President Xi Jinping since 2018. Chinese policymakers have anticipated headwinds in the world system, underscored by the upending of the “rules-based world order” by US President Donald Trump’s “law of the jungle” and a world increasingly threatened by climate change.

Recent China-US summits notwithstanding, great-power rivalry is likely to remain for a fairly long time, fragmenting trade, technological flows, supply chains and geopolitics. However, opportunities are opening up for cutting-edge technologies and closer relations with the larger world, including Europe and the Global South.

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The 15th five-year plan focuses on high-quality development with moderate but stable growth; technological self-reliance and industrial upgrading; economic rebalancing towards domestic consumption; expansion of smart grids and new energy systems; securing critical supply chains; managing geopolitical volatility; and institutionalising long-term national security.

The plan is advancing towards an important milestone: realising the nation’s second centenary goal of building “a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious” by 2049.

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Under “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong has an invaluable part to play not only as a “superconnector” but also as a global haven for finance, technology, academic and scientific research, culture, events, East-meets-West lifestyle and more. Here are 10 concrete steps the city can take.

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