This study examines China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, the most authoritative strategic blueprint for the country’s economic policies under Xi Jinping. The plan seeks to rebalance the economy toward more advanced technologies, greater environmental protection, and a stronger social safety net. However, it does not fundamentally rebalance the relationship between state and market, with the government and Chinese Communist Party still left with significant tools to micromanage most aspects of the economy. Unless greater emphasis is given to shifting this balance, the most likely result will be “growth with volatility,” in which some Chinese companies move up the value-added chain, but without fundamentally improving the country’s overall efficiency and performance.

This study examines China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, the most authoritative strategic blueprint for the country’s economic policies under Xi Jinping. The plan seeks to rebalance the economy toward more advanced technologies, greater environmental protection, and a stronger social safety net. However, it does not fundamentally rebalance the relationship between state and market, with the government and Chinese Communist Party still left with significant tools to micromanage most aspects of the economy. Unless greater emphasis is given to shifting this balance, the most likely result will be “growth with volatility,” in which some Chinese companies move up the value-added chain, but without fundamentally improving the country’s overall efficiency and performance.