JPA Pulse — China & Southeast Asia | March 2026

• Region: China & Southeast Asia

• Category: Strategic Intelligence

• Published: March 2026

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan sets GDP growth at 4.5–5% annually, raises R&D intensity and elevates digital economy targets, framing industrial policy, domestic demand expansion and supply chain security as structural strategic imperatives rather than cyclical responses.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) sets GDP growth at 4.5–5% annually, with R&D investment rising at least 7% per year and core digital economy industries targeted at 12.5% of GDP. The plan frames technological self-reliance, domestic demand expansion and supply chain security as structural imperatives — not cyclical responses.

Simultaneously, China’s geoeconomic posture toward the United States is hardening across trade, technology and financial channels. Taiwan risk remains elevated as a structural corporate planning parameter. China’s strategic alignment with Iran has direct implications for European and Asian supply chains exposed to Gulf disruption.

For organisations operating in or competing with China, the 15th Five-Year Plan is a five-year operating constraint — not a policy announcement. JPA Pulse China tracks the structural geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions shaping board and investment decisions across China and Southeast Asia.

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