Islamabad:Former ambassador Masood Khalid highlighted the importance of understanding China’s development model through its Five-Year Plans, noting that the planning process, initiated in 1953, evolved into a pragmatic framework combining long-term vision with periodic evaluation.
Mr Masood was delivering his keynote address at a seminar on “China in springtime: the 15th Five-Year Plan – the global significance and opportunities of Chinese modernisation” organised here by Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) in collaboration with China Media Group (CMG).
Mr Masood observed that these plans have driven China’s remarkable transformation, including lifting over 800 million people out of poverty and building world-class infrastructure. Continued investment in education, research and innovation enabled China to emerge as a major economic and technological power, he concluded.
Murtaza Solangi, Spokesperson, Presidency, speaking as Chief Guest noted that the deliberations of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing provide insights into China’s long-term economic planning and policy priorities.
He observed that China continues to emphasise steady economic growth, technological self-reliance, innovation and green transformation while expanding the digital economy and strengthening domestic consumption.
Dr Hassan Daud Butt, former CEO, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment & Trade, highlighted China’s development trajectory as the gradual building of a “Great Wall of Development.” Despite demographic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges, China sustained strong economic growth.
