Port of Nansha in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province Photo: TUCHONG

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (FYP, 2021–25), China’s economic development has centered on the theme of high-quality growth, driven by reform and innovation, and expanded high-standard opening-up. Amid profound changes unseen in a century, China has maintained a stable foundation for development and achieved new, major accomplishments in socioeconomic progress. These achievements have provided the discipline of Chinese economics with abundant empirical material and fertile ground for theoretical innovation. Over the past five years, China’s economics community has adhered to Xi Jinping Thought on Economy as its guiding framework, taken the construction of an independent Chinese economic knowledge system as its mission, and oriented research toward serving national strategic needs and addressing major questions arising in the course of Chinese modernization. It has carried out multidimensional explorations in knowledge, theory, and methodological innovation.

Chinese practice-based theoretical innovation

Since the reform and opening-up, China’s socioeconomic development has achieved remarkable success, offering a unique, practical foundation for economic theory innovation. Existing economic theories are increasingly unable to accurately explain the Chinese economic miracle, nor do they offer sufficient guidance for other developing countries. This has created new demands for accelerating the construction of an economic theory system rooted in Chinese practice and endowed with global significance. During the 14th FYP period, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Economy, Chinese economics research has moved beyond merely testing and expanding existing theories. Instead, it has grounded itself in contemporary development practices, drawing upon and developing economic ideas from China’s fine traditional culture. This has led to relentless efforts and notable progress toward developing an independent knowledge system for Chinese economics.

During this period, theoretical innovation in China’s economics community has exhibited distinct features of the times. First, theoretical research has become more practically oriented. Academia has conducted systematic studies on signature concepts such as Chinese modernization, the new development stage, the new development philosophy, the new development pattern, and high-quality development, as well as related major theoretical and practical issues, actively addressing significant questions of the era. Second, theoretical achievements have grown more original. Breaking through traditional analytical frameworks, scholars have systematically summarized China’s economic development practices, integrated outstanding theoretical insights from both China and abroad, and applied rigorous methodologies to major real-world issues, yielding a large body of innovative outcomes. Third, theoretical construction has become more systematic. With the building of an independent knowledge system for Chinese economics as the central goal, scholars have organized theoretical frameworks and research outcomes across disciplines through key initiatives such as developing new economics textbooks, laying the foundation for a more independent, distinctive, and systematic knowledge system.

Local issue-oriented agenda setting

During the 14th FYP period, Chinese economics research has focused both on major national strategic issues and on cutting-edge global trends, forming a research framework characterized by being “problem-oriented, demand-driven, and frontier-leading.” This approach has strengthened attention to domestic challenges while enhancing China’s capacity to engage in international dialogue.

First, building a new development pattern has been a major strategic task. Establishing a pattern in which the domestic market serves as the mainstay while domestic and international markets reinforce each other was a major strategic deployment of the 14th FYP period. The economics community has conducted in-depth research on this pattern, focusing on how to strengthen domestic economic circulation through the creation of a unified national market, while also examining the evolving global trade landscape and how domestic circulation can better drive international circulation amid rising protectionism.

Second, new quality productive forces and the digital economy have become key research areas. Since General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping introduced the concept of “new quality productive forces,” scholars have examined the synergistic evolution of technology, industry, and institutions, exploring how optimizing the allocation of production factors can foster and sustain these new quality productive forces. As a key manifestation of this development, the rapid growth of the digital economy has profoundly altered traditional economic logic. Scholars have examined its positive impacts while also addressing potential challenges such as the digital divide and job displacement.

Third, green development and transformation pathways under the “dual carbon” goals have drawn extensive attention. The steady advancement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality has generated a wealth of economic research on China’s green transition. Scholars have explored the economic feasibility of low-emission development models by studying industrial restructuring, energy mix transformation, carbon market design, green financial innovation, energy optimization, and mechanisms for realizing the value of ecological products—together contributing to a distinctive Chinese approach to global sustainable development.

Fourth, making solid strides toward delivering common prosperity for all has become a central theme. How to achieve more balanced and adequate economic growth and promote social equity and justice has emerged as a major theme in Chinese economics. During the 14th FYP period, research has adhered to a people-centered approach, placing common prosperity at the forefront of theoretical innovation in Chinese economics. Scholars have analyzed the coordination among primary distribution, redistribution, and tertiary distribution, exploring how taxation, social security, and equitable public services can help narrow urban–rural, regional, and income gaps.

Fifth, improving the macroeconomic governance system has also been a focus. Confronted with complex and volatile domestic and international conditions, China’s economics community has examined the theoretical foundations and practical innovations of macroeconomic regulation with Chinese characteristics. Scholars have systematically summarized China’s policy experience combining “counter-cyclical regulation” with “cross-cyclical regulation,” and, from the perspective of the “dual-wheel drive” of aggregate and structural policies, and explored new ways to optimize the policy governance framework—providing crucial theoretical references for ensuring short-term stability, managing risks, and promoting long-term growth and structural optimization.

Innovative integration of diverse approaches

In methodology, Chinese economics research during the 14th FYP period has shifted from reliance on single approaches toward the integration of diverse methods. Research paradigms have become more rationally conceived, rigorous, sophisticated, and in-depth, significantly enhancing the discipline’s scientific rigor and policy relevance, a development reflected in three key areas of methodological innovation.

First, the use of general equilibrium and structural analysis paradigms has expanded. While micro-level empirical research based on causal inference has grown increasingly rigorous and standardized, a growing number of studies have adopted general equilibrium–based theoretical and quantitative approaches, such as dynamic general equilibrium and quantitative spatial equilibrium models. With their capacity to capture interactions among multiple endogenous variables and simulate counterfactual policy scenarios, these models facilitate policy analysis and have broadened analytical perspectives while enriching the conclusions of Chinese economics studies.

Second, the use of microeconomic data and experimental methods has expanded. China’s microeconomic database development has achieved significant progress during this period, with classic datasets continuously refined and enriched, and a variety of new databases—such as those on business registrations, industrial enterprises, and population censuses—are being rapidly developed and opened. At the same time, randomized controlled trials and field experiments have gained wider adoption, enriching microdata collection channels, enabling more rigorous causal identification through robust experimental design, and further advancing interdisciplinary integration between economics, behavioral science, and psychology.

Third, big data and machine learning technologies have been increasingly applied. The surge of massive unlabeled data—particularly real-time data from social media, mobile devices, and the Internet of Things—has created an unprecedented information foundation for economic research. By employing machine learning algorithms, researchers can more promptly and precisely describe, characterize, and predict the spatiotemporal dynamics of economic activity, generating richer evidence for both macro- and micro-level decision-making. These methods have not only enhanced the timeliness and accuracy of research but also opened new avenues for economic inquiry.

Overall, significant progress has been made in building an independent knowledge system for Chinese economics during the 14th FYP period. Looking ahead, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Economy and building upon the systematic summarization, refinement, and generalization of China’s development experience, China’s economics community will continue to put forward distinctive concepts and innovative theories that resonate and align with the process of Chinese modernization. In doing so, it aims to further construct a logically coherent and internationally influential theoretical framework—advancing from “economics in China” toward “economics originating in China and contributing to the world.”

Chen Binkai is a professor and vice president at the Central University of Finance and Economics.