Economic Daily: 15th Five-Year Plan for financial powerhouse released, focusing on tech, green, inclusive, pension, digital finance

The Financial Powerhouse Construction: The "15th Five-Year Plan" has recently been officially released, providing a clear "blueprint" for building a strong financial nation. This document not only deepens the implementation of the directives from the Central Financial Work Conference but also offers a systematic plan for financial reform and development over the next five years, grounded in the broader context of Chinese-style modernization. Its significance is profound and far-reaching.

Finance serves as the lifeblood of the national economy and a core component of national competitiveness. The document clearly addresses key questions for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period: what finance should do, how it should be done, and for whom. It sets the direction for building a modern financial system with Chinese characteristics that is highly adaptive, competitive, and inclusive. This provides a clear course for financial work, consolidates efforts, and enables finance to better support high-quality development.

Staying True to Fundamentals: Serving the Real Economy as a Core Mission

Finance must not engage in self-circulation or arbitrage; its foundation lies in serving the real economy. The plan calls for continued efforts in five key areas of financial services:

• Technology finance
• Green finance
• Inclusive finance
• Pension finance
• Digital finance

These efforts aim to precisely support the development of new productive forces. On one hand, the plan seeks to improve the foundational systems of the capital market, increase the proportion of direct financing, and help technology enterprises achieve breakthroughs in core technologies. On the other hand, it emphasizes shifting service focus downward to alleviate financing difficulties for small and micro enterprises and empower rural revitalization. This ensures that financial resources are precisely directed toward key areas and weak links in economic development, fostering a mutually reinforcing relationship between finance and the real economy.

Safeguarding the Bottom Line: Balancing Development and Security

Without a secure foundation, reform and development cannot proceed. The plan calls for:

• Establishing a rigorous and effective modern financial regulatory system
• Clarifying responsibilities across all parties
• Strengthening coordination between central and local authorities
• Prudently advancing risk prevention and control in key areas

Specific attention is directed toward risk points such as local government debt, real estate, and small and medium-sized financial institutions. The goal is to achieve early identification, early warning, and early resolution of risks. The plan also emphasizes improving the macro-control framework, maintaining reasonable liquidity, and enhancing the forward-looking and coordinated nature of policies. By resolving existing risks and strictly controlling new ones in a dynamic balance, the plan aims to build a "firewall" for financial security, ensuring overall stability through financial stability.

Deepening Reform: Enhancing Strength Through Openness and Innovation

Building a financial powerhouse cannot be achieved behind closed doors, nor by simply copying foreign models. It requires a path with Chinese characteristics. The plan outlines two key dimensions:

Domestically:

• Continuously optimize the layout of financial institutions
• Guide various financial institutions to focus on their core businesses
• Improve modern financial infrastructure
• Enhance the wealth management system to better meet the public's reasonable demand for property income growth

Internationally:

• Steadily expand institutional openness
• Deepen two-way opening of financial markets
• Enhance China's voice in global financial governance
• Maintain autonomy and control while ensuring the security boundaries of openness

The plan emphasizes that reform and openness must work in tandem to continuously enhance the resilience and competitiveness of the financial system.

Moving Forward: Implementing the Plan Step by Step

As the "15th Five-Year Plan" period begins, all financial institutions are expected to proactively align with the plan's directives and advance tasks step by step. This requires both the courage to experiment and break through institutional bottlenecks, as well as sustained determination to build a solid foundation for a financial powerhouse over the long term.