In April 2020, at the seventh meeting of the 19th Central Financial and Economic Commission, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed the strategic vision of establishing a new development pattern. Over the past five years and more, General Secretary Xi Jinping has, based on the historical demands of reform and opening-up, made a series of important remarks on building this new development pattern, providing the right direction and fundamental guidance for continuously strengthening the foundation of China’s economic development and enhancing its security and stability. We must take General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important remarks as our guide, accurately grasp the overarching picture, and actively promote the accelerated establishment of this major strategic deployment—the new development pattern—so as to comprehensively advance Chinese-style modernization through high-quality economic development.

　　 I. Deeply understand the rich implications of building a new development paradigm.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping’s strategic vision for building a new development pattern is an original and distinctive concept within Xi Jinping’s economic thought, one that bears the unmistakable hallmarks of our times. To deeply understand and accurately grasp the rich implications of building this new development pattern, we must remain firmly grounded in the domestic major circulation, properly manage the relationship between domestic and international circulations, focus on addressing “bottleneck” and constraint issues in the economic circulation, and strive to achieve a high level of self-reliance and self-strengthening. By doing so, we can use the construction of this new development pattern to respond to new challenges, forge new advantages, and attain new breakthroughs.

　　The new development paradigm is centered on the domestic major circulation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the defining characteristic of large economies is that they are driven by domestic demand and capable of sustaining internal circulation. As the world’s second-largest economy, the largest manufacturing country, and the largest goods-trading nation, China will inevitably find it difficult to sustain long-term participation in the international economic cycle through a “two ends abroad” model that relies solely on external markets and resources. Therefore, adjusting the relationship between the domestic economic cycle and the international economic cycle has long been an imperative. From an international comparative perspective, the universal law governing the economic development of large and powerful nations lies in their strong endogenous momentum and reliability within the domestic major circulation. Most developed countries generally boast sizable domestic demand markets, with final consumption rates consistently remaining at relatively high levels—around 70% to 80%. From our own development standpoint, China’s more than 1.4 billion people are collectively moving toward a modernized society, a population size that exceeds the combined populations of all currently developed countries—a task of unprecedented difficulty and complexity. In an external environment marked by instability and uncertainty, we must rely on our robust domestic market and achieve internal self-sustaining circulation. Only then can we enhance the resilience of our economic development, ensure the basic normalcy of our economy even under extreme circumstances, and maintain overall social stability. By firmly holding the destiny and initiative of our national development and progress in our own hands, we can secure our future.

　　The new development paradigm is one of dual circulation—both domestic and international—in an open economy. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that taking the domestic major circulation as the mainstay does not mean closing ourselves off and operating in isolation. Rather, it means tapping into the potential of domestic demand to better connect the domestic and global markets, using the domestic major circulation to attract global resources and factors, making better use of both domestic and international markets and resources, enhancing our ability to allocate resources globally, and thus securing greater strategic initiative in the process of opening up and pursuing development. Today, China’s economy has become deeply integrated into the world economy, with high levels of industrial interdependence and mutual reliance on many countries around the globe. The domestic and foreign demand markets are mutually dependent and mutually reinforcing. It can be said that China’s development is inseparable from the world, and the world’s development also needs China. In recent years, the international environment has become increasingly complex and intricate. Yet no matter how the global situation may change, China’s door of openness will never be closed—it will only open wider and wider. To build the new development paradigm, we must pursue a higher-level, broader-ranging, and deeper-seated opening-up policy. By fostering international circulation through open cooperation, we can enhance the efficiency and quality of the domestic major circulation and strengthen the synergistic effects between the domestic and international markets and their respective resources.

　　The key to establishing a new development paradigm lies in ensuring the smooth and unimpeded flow of economic cycles. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that if economic cycles run smoothly, material products will increase, social wealth will accumulate, people’s well-being will improve, and national strength will be enhanced, thus setting off a spiraling upward development process. Whether the smooth and unimpeded flow of economic cycles can be achieved hinges primarily on whether both the supply and demand sides are robustly driven, broadly aligned with each other, dynamically balanced, and engaged in positive, mutually reinforcing interactions. At present, China still faces certain contradictions and bottlenecks in smoothing economic cycles; the supply system is not yet fully able to adapt to changes in demand structure. Building a new development paradigm precisely starts from ensuring smooth cycles, organically integrating the strategy of expanding domestic demand with deepening supply-side structural reforms. By exerting force simultaneously on both the supply and demand sides and coordinating their efforts, we can continuously enhance the quality and efficiency of economic cycles. It is also important to recognize that building a new development paradigm centers on the domestic large-cycle based on a unified national market—it cannot and should not involve “small but complete” cycles within provinces, cities, or counties.

　　The most essential feature of establishing a new development paradigm is achieving a high level of self-reliance and self-strengthening. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must accelerate the drive toward scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. This is the key to ensuring the smooth operation of the domestic major circulation and shaping China’s new advantages in the global major circulation.” Looking back at the modern and contemporary history of the world, every country that has led in overall national strength and international competitiveness at various stages has possessed robust capabilities for independent scientific and technological innovation. Today, technological innovation has entered an unprecedentedly intensive phase. The new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation represent one of the most challenging yet unavoidable uncertainties. Seizing these opportunities means turning them into advantages; failing to do so will only bring challenges. If we lack critical core technologies and our supply chains’ “vital points” are controlled by others, it would be like building a house on someone else’s foundation—no matter how grand or beautiful it may seem, it could easily crumble under the slightest storm or even collapse entirely. Only by winning the tough battles over critical core technologies and achieving autonomous, controllable, safe, and stable industrial and supply chains can we better realize high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, thereby laying a solid technological foundation for building the new development paradigm.

　　 II. China’s advantages in building a new development paradigm continue to strengthen.

　　Building a new development pattern is a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, based on the goal of achieving the Second Centenary Goal and taking into account both development and security. It reflects General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound strategic thinking and planning over the years regarding the overall development of China’s economy and society. Since its introduction, this new development pattern has had a profound impact on China’s reform and development, demonstrating powerful practical strength. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, all regions and departments have steadily advanced the construction of the new development pattern, continuously enhancing their ideological awareness, strengthening their work foundations, and improving their policies and institutional frameworks, thereby achieving remarkable results.

　　We are firmly committed to implementing the strategy of expanding domestic demand, and the internal momentum driving the large-scale domestic economic loop is steadily growing stronger. By boosting residents’ incomes and reducing their burdens, improving the institutional framework for promoting consumption, integrating consumption promotion with benefits for people’s livelihoods, optimizing the consumption environment, and innovating consumption scenarios, we continue to unleash consumption potential. From 2021 to 2024, final consumption contributed an average of 56.2% to economic growth. By perfecting the institutional mechanisms that enable government investment to effectively leverage social investment, strengthening and improving investment management, we have sustained the expansion of effective investment. From 2021 to 2024, capital formation accumulated through investment contributed an average of 30.2% to economic growth. The level of dynamic balance between supply and demand continues to improve, as deepening supply-side structural reforms and efforts to expand effective demand work in synergy. New industries, new business models, and new formats are emerging at an accelerated pace, continuously unlocking investment potential and boosting consumption vitality. In 2024, China’s annual production and sales of new-energy vehicles both surpassed the 10-million-vehicle mark, maintaining its position as the world’s largest market for 10 consecutive years. The value-added of core digital economy industries accounted for approximately 10% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

　　Fully leveraging the advantages of the new national system, our capacity for scientific and technological self-reliance and strength has been significantly enhanced. We have deeply implemented an innovation-driven development strategy, accelerated the development of new-quality productive forces, strengthened the building of national strategic scientific and technological forces, and promoted the deep integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain, continuously boosting our competitiveness in scientific and technological innovation. Our overall innovation capability has markedly improved; in 2024, R&D expenditure across society reached 3.61 trillion yuan, firmly maintaining our position as the world’s second-largest spender, and our global innovation index ranking jumped to 11th. The pace of achieving scientific and technological self-reliance and strength has quickened, with mechanisms and systems for original and leading-edge technological breakthroughs being rapidly refined. We are steadily breaking through bottlenecks and constraints in key areas and critical links. Continuous breakthroughs have been made in scientific and technological innovations such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies. The commercialization and application of innovative achievements are accelerating: large-scale AI models are flourishing and emerging as a powerful new force; industrial robot density has risen significantly; and embodied intelligence is speeding up its transition into practical applications. China is steadily moving toward the forefront of global scientific and technological innovation and technology transfer.

　　We are firmly committed to removing institutional and systemic barriers, and the construction of a nationwide unified market is being deepened. We are making concerted efforts to break down barriers to the flow of production factors, having issued and implemented documents such as the "Guidelines for Building a Nationwide Unified Market (Trial)," the "Opinions on Improving the Market Access System," and the "Implementation Measures for the Fair Competition Review Regulations," thereby promoting the smooth flow of goods, factors, and resources over an ever wider area. The fundamental institutional framework of the market economy continues to be refined and improved: the number of items on the negative list for market access has been reduced from 123 in the 2020 edition to 106 in the 2025 edition. Meanwhile, foundational market systems—including property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit—have become more comprehensive and robust. Reform of factor-market-based allocation is accelerating; a unified and standardized human resources market system is steadily improving. In 2024, the nationwide turnover of technology contracts reached 6.8 trillion yuan, marking eight consecutive years of double-digit growth. The modern circulation system has become even more sophisticated: the total mileage of the nation’s integrated, multi-dimensional transportation network has surpassed 6 million kilometers, and the main framework of “6 axes, 7 corridors, and 8 channels” has largely taken shape. In 2024, the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP fell to 14.1%, the lowest level since the relevant statistical indicators were established in 2006.

　　We are steadily promoting coordinated development between urban and rural areas and among different regions, continuously optimizing the spatial layout of the domestic large-cycle economy. We are comprehensively implementing a people-centered new urbanization strategy, a rural revitalization strategy, and a regional coordinated development strategy, thereby facilitating the rational flow and efficient agglomeration of various factors and continually expanding the coverage of the domestic large-cycle economy. The pace of people-centered new urbanization is accelerating; the urbanization rate of the resident population has risen from 63.9% in 2020 to 67% in 2024. The integration of agricultural migrants into urban life has yielded remarkable results—since the household registration system reform in 2014, more than 170 million agricultural migrants have settled in urban areas. The rural revitalization strategy is being implemented in depth, accelerating the integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas, continuously broadening farmers’ income-generating channels, and narrowing the income gap between urban and rural residents. The income ratio between urban and rural residents has dropped from 2.56:1 in 2020 to 2.34:1 in 2024. Regional development coordination is steadily improving; the three major economic engines—the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Yangtze River Delta—are maintaining strong momentum and playing an increasingly prominent role as models and leaders. The “four major regions”—eastern, central, western, and northeastern China—are achieving positive results in high-quality development. The green development belts along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are brimming with vitality, and efforts to build China into a maritime power are advancing vigorously, leveraging the ocean for strength and prosperity.

　　We are steadily advancing high-level opening-up to the outside world, and the quality of both domestic and international dual circulation is steadily improving. We are accelerating the establishment of a new system for a higher-level open economy, steadily promoting institutional openness in areas such as rules, regulations, governance, and standards, and driving the reshaping and revitalization of the global economic loop. The volume and quality of goods trade remain stable and excellent; China’s position as the world’s largest goods-trading nation has become even more solid. The scale of goods trade has grown from 32.2 trillion yuan in 2020 to 43.9 trillion yuan in 2024. More high-tech products—such as electric vehicles, 3D printers, and industrial robots—are rapidly entering overseas markets. The quality of foreign investment continues to improve: we’ve been “subtracting” restrictions on market access while “adding” efforts to optimize the business environment. In 2024, the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises nationwide reached 59,000, an increase of 9.9% over the previous year. High-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative is deepening and becoming more substantive. Physical connectivity of infrastructure continues to expand, while soft connectivity in terms of rules and standards is becoming smoother. Major landmark projects are progressing steadily, and small-scale yet impactful livelihood projects are widely welcomed by local communities.

　　Continuously strengthening the building of economic security capabilities will further solidify the foundation for establishing a new development paradigm. We will improve the long-term mechanisms for preventing and resolving risks, accelerate the enhancement of security capabilities in key areas, and reinforce the positive interaction between high-quality development and high-level security. Food security has been firmly safeguarded: China’s total grain output has remained stable above 1.3 trillion jin for ten consecutive years, with output exceeding 1.4 trillion jin for the first time in 2024, ensuring basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute food security. The proportion of crops cultivated using domestically bred varieties has surpassed 95%, and the coverage rate of superior varieties has reached over 96%. The construction of a new energy system is accelerating: by the end of 2024, the nation’s installed power generation capacity had reached 3.35 billion kilowatts, and for the first time, the installed capacity of new energy sources exceeded that of thermal power. The ability to independently control industrial and supply chains continues to strengthen, and the level of self-reliance and controllability in key industrial chains keeps improving. Efforts to build data security capabilities are steadily advancing; we have established and perfected mechanisms for governing data circulation security, and safeguards at national integrated computing power network hub nodes continue to be reinforced.

　　 III. Fully implement the strategic plan to accelerate the establishment of a new development paradigm.

　　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that building a new development pattern is a systematic undertaking. We must not only “focus on the big picture at the top” by strengthening strategic planning and top-level design, but also “pay close attention to details at the grassroots level” by identifying key areas of work. At present, China’s development environment has become increasingly complex and challenging. This calls for us to grasp even more accurately this major strategic deployment of building a new development pattern, stay firmly committed to our goals, maintain strong confidence, rise to the challenges, and strive vigorously to expand and strengthen the domestic large-cycle, ensure smooth flow in both domestic and international dual cycles, effectively respond to profound changes in both domestic and international environments, achieve high-level self-reliance and self-strengthening, and promote high-quality economic development.

　　Firmly grasp the strategic pivot of the new development paradigm and comprehensively expand domestic demand. Expand effective investment, focus on the construction of “two major projects,” strengthen project reserves and ensure adequate provision of key factors. Make coordinated and effective use of various government investment tools, optimize the allocation of central budget investments and special bonds issued by local governments, intensify support for public service investments, and actively encourage and support the development of private investment. Launch a batch of attractive major projects, support private enterprises in making investment deployments in emerging and future industries, and step up efforts to address shortcomings, reinforce weak areas, and foster new growth drivers, thereby further enhancing the pivotal role of investment in optimizing the supply structure. Vigorously boost consumption, effectively implement the “two new” policies, and promote both the expansion and efficiency improvement of consumption. Ensure the thorough implementation of the “Special Action Plan for Boosting Consumption,” carry out a series of incremental policies that are impactful, feasible, and genuinely felt by the public, focus on improving income growth and consumption capacity among urban and rural residents, promote the renewal and upgrading of bulk consumption, establish and implement a childcare subsidy system, introduce special re-lending instruments, increase support for key areas of service consumption and the development of the elderly care industry, and amplify the ripple effects of emerging consumption.

　　Promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, and accelerate the achievement of high-level self-reliance and self-strengthening. Focus on strategic areas of international competition in science and technology and industry, strengthen strategic planning and policy support, and speed up the enhancement of independent innovation capabilities. Increase the supply of high-quality scientific and technological innovations, accelerate breakthroughs in bottlenecks such as integrated circuits, industrial mother machines, basic software, and core seed resources, and expedite technological innovation in emerging fields like next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology. Deeply implement the “AI Plus” initiative and vigorously promote quality upgrades in key industries. Strengthen the leading role of enterprises in technological innovation, support enterprises in taking the lead or participating in major national science and technology projects, establish a National Venture Capital Guidance Fund, and foster high-quality development of venture capital. Use technological innovation to unleash new momentum for industrial development, cultivate industrial highlights through technological innovation, accelerate the issuance of guidelines for fostering and developing new-quality productive forces, launch industrial innovation projects in key areas such as humanoid robots and future energy, and promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces.

　　Focus on addressing the key bottlenecks and weak links that constrain economic circulation, and further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner. Establish and improve the “four pillars and eight supports” of a nationwide unified large market, and vigorously advance the “five unifications and one opening-up.” Further standardize local investment promotion efforts, and resolutely break down local protectionism and market fragmentation. Fully launch pilot programs for comprehensive reforms aimed at market-based allocation of production factors, and continue to promote the development of factor markets—including land, capital, labor, technology, and data—to enhance the efficiency of resource allocation. Uphold and implement the “two unwavering commitments,” deeply advance the optimization and structural adjustment of the state-owned economy, increase the effective supply of public services in areas related to people’s livelihoods, strengthen the role of critical energy and resource reserves, continuously improve the institutional framework for fostering the development of the private economy, fully implement the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Promoting the Private Economy,” and support the growth and strengthening of the private sector and private enterprises. Continuously optimize the business environment, carry out in-depth initiatives to improve and enhance the business environment, promote revisions to the Tendering and Bidding Law, and strengthen the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of all types of business entities.

　　We will build a regional economic layout featuring complementary advantages and high-quality development, thereby better facilitating the smooth flow of the domestic economic loop. We will promote the organic integration of new-type urbanization and the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, and coordinate the deepened implementation of regional strategies with integrated regional development and cooperation. We will steadily advance the five-year action plan for the new-type urbanization strategy, accelerate the citizenship of agricultural migrants, foster coordinated development among large, medium, and small cities, and create new growth poles for county-level economies. We will vigorously and effectively promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas by implementing the "Comprehensive Revitalization Plan for Rural Areas (2024–2027)" to expand and strengthen county-level industries that boost farmers’ incomes, and launch projects aimed at building harmonious and beautiful villages. We will continue to intensify efforts in implementing regional strategies, deeply advancing such initiatives as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. We will deepen industrial collaboration among eastern, central, and western regions, encourage localities to leverage their comparative advantages, capitalize on strengths while addressing weaknesses, and support regions in creating more development highlights. We will provide strong support—particularly in terms of factor guarantees, technological innovation, and pioneering reforms—to major economic provinces as they take the lead in driving development.

　　We will expand high-level opening-up to the outside world, using the domestic major circulation to better drive the international circulation. We will steadily expand institutional openness and actively promote autonomous opening-up. We will accelerate the improvement of mechanisms for high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, coordinate and advance both landmark mega-projects and small-scale yet impactful projects that benefit people’s livelihoods, and focus on enhancing the brand influence of initiatives such as the China-Europe Railway Express, the Silk Road Maritime Transport, and the Air Silk Road. We will actively explore new space for international economic and trade cooperation, fully leveraging the roles of multilateral platforms such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the China-ASEAN framework, making good use of multilateral frameworks like the World Trade Organization, and actively participating in the reform of the global economic governance system. Together with the international community, we will firmly uphold multilateralism and oppose unilateral bullying practices. We will make every effort to stabilize foreign trade development, continue hosting national-level key expos such as the China International Import Expo, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and the China International Digital Economy Expo, support the accelerated development of cross-border e-commerce, vigorously expand green trade, accelerate the development of service trade and digital trade, and speed up the integration of domestic and foreign trade. We will significantly enhance the quality of utilizing foreign investment and outbound investment, study and introduce a batch of new opening-up measures in sectors including telecommunications, education, culture, healthcare, and finance, intensify pilot policies for opening up the service sector, and strengthen services for enterprises “going global.” We will continuously refine the policy and institutional framework of the Hainan Free Trade Port and accelerate the building of a China-characteristic free trade port with global influence.

　　Uphold the bottom line of safe development and continuously strengthen the foundational guarantees for the new development paradigm. Place greater emphasis on domestic strengths, vigorously enhance security capabilities in key areas, and firmly grasp the initiative in addressing risks and challenges. Solidly consolidate the foundation of food security from all angles, intensify efforts to store grain in land and in technology, strictly guard the red line for arable land protection, step up the construction of high-standard farmland, launch a new round of initiatives to boost grain production capacity by 100 billion jin, and implement an action plan to revitalize the seed industry. Substantially enhance our capacity to ensure energy and resource security, accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system, promote the substitution of renewable energy sources in key sectors, engage in pragmatic international energy cooperation, and deeply carry out a new round of strategic actions to achieve breakthroughs in mineral exploration. Make every effort to ensure the security of critical industrial and supply chains, establish and improve mechanisms for assessing and responding to risks in these chains, and coordinate the advancement of major technological equipment research and development as well as projects aimed at rebuilding industrial foundations. Strengthen the construction of a data security assurance system and effectively safeguard national data security.