Published by ChinaMNC · Zhongshaqundaodedaojiaojiqihaiyu

China's 15th Five-Year Plan Trade Briefing: What Foreign Founders Need to Know

A practical read of the State Council Information Office's October 22 briefing on high-quality commerce development under the 15th Five-Year Plan, covering consumption incentives, trade pillars, free trade agreements, inbound investment and outbound investment support — summarized for foreign founders operating in China.

Why This Briefing Matters for Foreign Founders

On October 22, the State Council Information Office held a press conference in its "Starting the 15th Five-Year Plan" series, with Ministry of Commerce officials outlining how commerce policy will develop during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Commerce work, as the briefing described it, links urban and rural areas, connects China with overseas markets, and bridges production and sales. For foreign founders registering or running a company in China, the briefing signals where consumer demand, trade facilitation and investment rules are heading. Below is a factual summary of what officials said, organized around practical implications.

Consumption: Incentives and Retail Infrastructure

Vice Minister Jiang Chenghua noted that since the 18th Party Congress, final consumption expenditure has contributed an average of 55% to China's economic growth annually, while total retail sales of consumer goods have grown an average of 7.1% per year. For the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the ministry will focus more effort on improving supply, creating new consumption scenarios and upgrading facilities to unlock urban and rural household spending potential.

Yang Mu, director of the market operations and consumption promotion department, detailed specific measures: expanding and upgrading goods consumption, including vehicle consumption across the whole chain; issuing a work plan to accelerate the use of smart products in consumption; continuing to expand services consumption through a quality-and-benefit action plan; deepening the cultivation of international consumption center cities; implementing an urban commercial quality improvement action; and closing consumption gaps in county-level areas.

The "China Haul" Trend and Tax Refunds

The briefing highlighted the recent "China Haul" shopping trend. Nationwide, tax refund stores now exceed 18,000, four times the level at the end of 2024. From January to August this year, departure tax refund sales rose about 60% year on year, and the number of people processing refunds tripled. The ministry said it will continue strengthening the "Buy in China" brand, improving the shopping experience for foreign visitors while responding to domestic consumers' demand for variety and quality.

Practical takeaway: Foreign founders in retail, consumer goods or tourism-facing services should note the policy emphasis on smart products, services consumption and inbound shopping. The expansion of refund stores and refund volumes is a factual indicator of growing inbound retail activity.

Trade: Three Pillars and Four "Cultivations"

Yang Tao, director of the foreign trade department, said the 15th Five-Year Plan period will deepen development of three pillars: goods trade, services trade and digital trade.

For goods trade, he listed four "cultivation" areas:

• Cultivating entities: helping foreign trade entities innovate and upgrade, improving exports and expanding imports.
• Cultivating brands: supporting foreign trade firms in building Chinese independent brands and helping overseas producers and consumers access Chinese quality products more easily.
• Cultivating markets: diversifying export markets and import sources and integrating domestic and foreign trade.
• Cultivating new momentum: advancing cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses, green trade and smart foreign trade products.

On services trade, the ministry will promote exports of production-related services such as R&D, design, testing and maintenance; support exports of lifestyle services such as travel and culture and actively develop inbound consumption; and expand imports of quality services in energy conservation, environmental protection and healthcare. On digital trade, it will expand digital services exports, push more quality online literature, audiovisual programs, animation and games overseas, and support new business forms such as cloud computing and international data services.

Free Trade Agreements: An Expanding Network

Jiang said a globally oriented free trade network has taken initial shape. China has signed 26 free trade agreements with 33 countries and regions; FTA partners (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) account for 45% of China's total foreign trade and 70% of absorbed foreign investment. According to customs statistics, in the first three quarters of this year, China's imports and exports with FTA partners grew 30% year on year, contributing more than 70% of foreign trade growth.

Next steps include pushing for early entry into force of the China–ASEAN FTA 3.0 and the upgraded China–Peru FTA protocol, accelerating negotiations or upgrades with South Korea, New Zealand and Central Asian countries, and advancing RCEP expansion and upgrading. The ministry also aims to raise liberalization in goods, services and investment and incorporate emerging rules on the digital economy, green development and government procurement.

Inbound Investment: National Treatment and New Sectors

From January to September, actual use of foreign capital fell 4.3% year on year, a narrowing of 6.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year; foreign investment in high-tech industries rose 33.8% and accounted for 41.6% of the total. Wu Di, from the foreign investment management department, said China has more than 560,000 existing foreign-invested enterprises.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the ministry will pursue stable stock, expanded increments and improved quality together. It will fully implement national treatment for foreign enterprises, treat domestic and foreign firms equally in government procurement, bidding and standard-setting, strengthen intellectual property protection and foster fair competition.

On expansion, 84 key foreign investment projects and 6 landmark projects were added this year, with total investment of nearly USD 20 billion. The ministry will deepen pilot openings in cloud computing, biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, implement tax credit policy for overseas investors reinvesting distributed profits, and encourage foreign-invested enterprises to increase capital and expand into new tracks. On quality, it will implement the encouraged foreign investment industry catalogue to guide more investment into emerging and future industries.

Outbound Investment and Risk Support

By the end of 2025, China's outbound investment stock was nearly USD 3.4 trillion, ranking among the world's top three for nine consecutive years. Zhao Chunfeng, director of the outbound investment and economic cooperation department, said the ministry has built more than 90 investment cooperation working groups with key countries, established dedicated groups for emerging fields such as the digital economy, green minerals and green energy, and continues to strengthen overseas risk prevention systems covering enterprises, projects and personnel.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.