Guangdong has set its economic and development goals for the next five years under the province’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which will govern the period from 2026 to 2030 and was officially published yesterday.
According to the document, the authorities are looking to turn Guangdong’s Greater Bay Area (GBA) into an internationally competitive and vigorous world-class urban cluster, utilising the area’s development as a driving force.
The five-year plan broadly outlines eight key targets covering areas such as economic development, technological growth, the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, the deepening of reforms, civic enhancement, people’s living standards, green living and security.
In terms of economic targets, Guangdong is looking to boost its gross domestic product (GDP) by a yearly average of around 5 percent over the next five years.
R&D spending is also projected to increase by 5 percent per year, with the number of “high value” invention patents reaching a total of 45 per 10,000 people by 2030, an increase over the 2025 figure of 32.15 such patents per 10,000 people.
Meanwhile, the added value of digital economy’s core industries is forecast to rise from 16.5 percent in 2025 to 18 percent in 2030.
[See more: GBA business confidence flatlines even as tech and finance sectors show resilience]
The province is aiming to boost living standards as well, aiming to keep Increases in per capita disposable income in sync with GDP growth. By 2030, the average life expectancy in Guangdong is set to rise from 80 years to 81.5 years.
Aside from outlining Guangdong’s development targets, the 15th Five-Year Plan reviewed the progress made during the previous five-year plan period between 2021 and 2025. The paper noted that Guangdong’s GDP exceeded the 10 trillion mark three consecutive times over this period, reaching an economic output of 14.58 trillion yuan in 2025.
Similarly, the value of foreign trade in Guangdong took the top spot nationally for the 40th year in a row, hitting 9.49 trillion yuan in 2025.
Proposals for Guangdong’s 15th Five-Year Plan were approved during the seventh plenary session of the 13th Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China on 27 November 2025.
The draft proposal was later submitted to the fifth session of the 14th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, which gave its approval on 29 January 2026.
