China is turning challenges into drivers of transformation, without compromising the environment, public welfare or its commitment to multilateralism

As 2026 unfolds, the international landscape remains complex and volatile, with challenges and opportunities intertwined. At this critical juncture, China’s Government Work Report released during the two sessions — the country’s annual meetings of its top legislative and political consultative bodies — presents a pragmatic, forward-looking vision to the world. It articulates the philosophy and practical pathways of Chinese modernization, underscoring China’s unwavering commitment to sustaina-ble development and shared prosperity.

The report shows that China is strategically dedicated to pursuing a path of peaceful development rooted in its national realities. Instead of focusing solely on economic growth, it builds a multidimensional framework covering the economy, society, ecology and security — fully reflecting how the country thoughtfully considers and relentlessly pursues high-quality development.

With durable consumer goods increasingly integrated into daily life, the previous growth model — reliant on mass production and mass consumption — has to be adapted to fit evolving national situations. This change mirrors the trajectory of developed nations, including Japan, since the 1970s. After a period of high-speed growth, shifting to a sustained, stable development model has emerged as a new task for China.

The nation began grappling with this task in 2020. Developed countries made their own transition under far more favorable external conditions. Although environmental protection was recognized as a necessity as early as the 1970s, these countries prioritized economic growth for decades afterward. Issues such as financial bubbles and the impacts of globalization rose to become globally prominent in the 1990s. More importantly, their development was not hampered by barriers such as punitive tariffs aimed at impeding progress.

Today’s China, as a developing country, finds itself confronting nearly all the aforementioned pressures at once. Yet rather than retreating, it is turning these challenges into drivers of transformation — without compromising the environment, public welfare or multilateralism.

The rise of its green technology sector is a telling example. By accelerating innovation, upgrading traditional industries and fostering emerging and future-oriented fields, the country is forging a path toward sustainable development — step by step, not through slogans but action.

Despite complex and often confrontational headwinds, China’s resilience is growing. While some governments push for decoupling, companies such as Tesla and Toyota would find it difficult to maintain their operations without collaborative synergy with China’s innovation system. So rather than simply calling it a “slowdown”, it’s more accurate to see China as recalibrating its pace — setting a steadier, more robust growth target that reflects the realities of structural transformation.

Within the report on the implementation of the 2025 plan for national economic and social development and on the 2026 draft plan for national economic and social development, alongside traditional growth drivers such as economic development and innovation-driven development, objectives including improving the people’s well-being, pursuing green and low-carbon development, and safeguard-ing food and energy security are accorded importance. The articulation of these goals and the deployment of related tasks underscore a defining characteristic of China’s model: a commitment to a people-centered approach that emphasizes comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable growth.

And in the Government Work Report, policies aimed at promoting economic growth go hand-in-hand with measures to maintain social development, each reinforcing the other. To achieve sustained growth, the report emphasizes improving regional technological innovation systems, expanding effective investment, and driving advances in original innovation and breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields. These measures are designed to bolster internal drivers and reduce reliance on exogenous factors and short-term stimulus — embodying a steady and pragmatic path forward.

China’s self-awareness is evident in its approach: adhering to a people-centered philosophy and setting “common prosperity” as a long-term goal, which is in stark contrast to the “winner-takes-all”, zero-sum games pursued by some Western countries. Its emphasis on social equity and stability, environmental protection and international cooperation demonstrates its role as a responsible stakeholder in global affairs.

In recent years, China has actively provided financial, technical and talent support to other developing countries in the Global South through mechanisms such as the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund. On climate action, it advances the Green Silk Road, supplying clean energy equipment and technical training to regions including Africa and Southeast Asia, helping build photovoltaic stations and wind farms. In the digital economy, it collaborates with Southeast Asian and African nations to develop digital economy parks, promoting the co-construction and sharing of digital infrastructure. In agriculture, joint technology research with African countries has enhanced food security. By 2023, China had built 24 agricultural technology demonstration centers in Africa, promoting over 300 advanced technologies. These efforts have increased crop yields by an average of 30 to 60 percent, benefiting over 1 million smallholder farmers. This “teaching a man to fish instead of giving him fish” model is not only reshaping South-South cooperation but also setting a new paradigm in international engagement.

The achievements of China’s peaceful development over many years repeatedly affirm the country’s commitment to independence, equity and collaboration. Adhering to the path of peaceful development and opposing hegemonism and power politics, it creates opportunities for shared prosperity with other developing nations.

Represented by the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-promoted international cooperation model is continuously achieving qualitative improvements. It rejects the hegemonic logic of zero-sum games and predatory growth that seeks to benefit oneself at the expense of others. Instead, grounded in the idea of a community with a shared future for humanity, China seeks to build mutually beneficial partnerships. This new model of international cooperation injects stability and positive energy into an uncertain international situation, provides referential pathways for global development, and brings hope for building a sustainable future.

China’s 2026 Government Work Report is not merely a policy document guiding domestic affairs; it is also a solemn commitment to the world. China is leading the Global South toward a new era of coordinated and win-win cooperation. China’s development experience and model offer valuable lessons for other developing economies and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to building a more just and equitable international order.

The author is an associate researcher at the School of Humanities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.