55 Years on China-Belgium Diplomatic Ties,

Seize the China Opportunity in the Year of the Horse

In a more volatile world of wars and walls, China has stood out as an anchor for peace and development, a valuable opportunity for all, open for business and known for its long-tested political stability, economic prosperity, technological advancement and better lives for 1.4 billion Chinese, the largest growing consumer base ever on planet.

China just had its“Two sessions” in March, namely the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (China’s Parliament) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.They are not only a significant platform that gives full expression to public opinion and builds social consensus, but also serves as an important window for the world to observe and reflect on “the whole-process people’s democracy” and “the governance of China”.

The fourth session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee was held in Beijing.

Credit: Xinhua

The “Two Session” in 2026 has deliberated and approved the Government Work Report and the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development. The formulation and implementation of the Five-Year Plans—following our plan through to the end and advancing the plan step by step—has been an important governance practice of the Communist Party of China.

The 15th Five-Year Plan fully demonstrates the four major positive trends of China’s future, providing certainty and fresh impetus for global development by the stability and continuity of China’s policies.

China’s economy is upgrading with a solid foundation for high-quality development.This year’s Government Work Report sets China’s economic growth target at 4.5%-5%. Some say that this is the first time in over 30 years that the target falls below 5%, questioning whether China’s economy is losing steam. In fact, in 2025, China’s GDP exceeded 140 trillion yuan (over 17 trillion euros) for the first time, growing by 5.0% year-on-year. As the world’s second-largest economy, achieving such stable growth amid risks and challenges is no easy feat and is indeed quite impressive.

China’s economy has shifted from high-speed growth to high-quality development. It is now making every effort to transform its development model, optimize its economic structure and upgrade growth drivers. Over the next five years, China will continue to build a modern industrial system. The added value of core digital economy industries is expected to account for 12.5% of GDP, while carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will be reduced by 17%, with a focus on improving the quality of development.

The skyline of Beijing CBD. Credit: VCG

New growth drivers are emerging, injecting vitality into new sectors.At the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Horse, a robot martial arts performance captured attention far and wide, showcasing the growing trend of intelligent technologies being put into practical use. At present, the scale of China’s core artificial intelligence industry has exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan (about 150 billion euros). The adoption rate of AI technologies in China’s manufacturing enterprises with an annual business turnover of more than 2.5 billion euros has surpassed 30%.

The robot martial arts performance at the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Horse.

Credit: CGTN

The Government Work Report clearly stresses the need to nurture emerging and future industries, focusing on new pillar sectors such as integrated circuits, biomedicine and the low-altitude economy, while laying out plans in frontier fields including quantum technology, embodied AI and 6G, and promoting the deep integration of cutting-edge technologies with the real economy. For the first time, the report proposes creating new forms of smart economy and further advancing the AI Plus Initiative.

China will continue to encourage the large-scale commercial application of intelligent terminals and improve the open-source ecosystem, striving to expand the scale of AI-related industries to over 10 trillion yuan (over 1.2 trillion euros) by year 2030 at the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, thereby continuously unleashing new growth momentum in emerging sectors.

World's largest single automated container port: Shanghai's Yangshan Port.

Credit:VCG

Opening up is expanding, creating new opportunities and space for cooperation.Opening up has always been a vital driving force of China’s reform and development. At a time when the global economic recovery remains weak and uncertainties continue to rise, the Government Work Report underscores the necessity to further expand high-standard opening up and uphold mutually beneficial cooperation.

The skyline of Shanghai. Credit: VCG

China will open wider to the outside world, expand market access and open up more areas for businesses around the world, particularly in the service sector. It will further expand opening-up trials for value-added telecom services, biotechnology, wholly foreign-owned hospitals and other fields, while ensuring that foreign investors enjoy both market access and full operational access in already opened sectors. On March 1, the newly revised Foreign Trade Law officially came into effect, introducing a negative list approach to the management of cross-border trade in services and strengthening full-chain protection of foreign-related intellectual property rights, thereby providing a law-based guarantee for institutional opening up, making it easier and easier to do business and prosper in China no matter where you’re from.

At present, China has implemented unilateral visa-free policies or mutual visa exemptions with 75 countries. As policy dividends continue to be released, cross-border flow of people and technologies has become more efficient and convenient. China welcomes more foreign-invested enterprises to increase investment and achieve common development and prosperity.

Foreign tourists pose for a photoat the Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park in Beijing.

Credit: Xinhua

People’s well-being is improving, bringing a stronger sense of fulfillment and happiness. Ultimately, development is about improving people’s lives. The formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan fully reflects people’s democracy by opening the process to public participation.

More than 3.113 million suggestions were collected, allowing the voices of the people to feed into the country’s grand development blueprint. From fostering employment-friendly development to optimizing the allocation of educational resources, from increasing government subsidies for basic medical insurance to improving the urban community-based elderly care service network, a series of practical measures are steadily strengthening the social safety net and enhancing people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.

Another notable outcome of the “Two Sessions” is the adoption of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law. The law explicitly calls for the use of the nation’s common language while also respecting and safeguarding the right of ethnic minorities to learn and use their own languages, helping ensure more equitable development opportunities for all ethnic groups. Chinese modernization is a modernization that delivers common prosperity for all ethnic groups.

Deputies to the National People's Congress.

Credit: China Daily

As China implements the new blueprint of the 15th Five-Year Plan in the years ahead, it will provide Belgium and other countries with more opportunities. As a tech powerhouse and pioneer in green development of Europe, Belgium has invested and started businesses in China as early as its outset of reform and opening-up, and has been a major beneficiary of Chinese modernization.

Today, some may argue that China’s industrial development has posed serious challenges to Belgian industries. But facts show just the opposite, complementary strengths and mutual benefits are indeed defining features of China-Belgium economic and trade relations.

Stable and steady China-EU trade has been a major contributor to the success of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, being the second largest in Europe. The Volvo Ghent plant, the single largest employer in Flanders, employs approximately 6500 local employees, while Solvay’s net sales share in China has steadily increased for 3 consecutive years. The list of such stories goes on and on, contrary to the fake news about “China threat”.

A worker is working on the assembly line at the Volvo car factory in Ghent.

Credit: Xinhua

Through cooperation with China, Belgium has enhanced its industrial competitiveness and boosted its role as a major logistics hub in land, by air and by road and rail in Europe, connecting the East and the West, the North and the South.

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

Credit: Xinhua

China-Belgium cooperation has also increased Belgian jobs and delivered tangible benefits to the Belgian people. High-quality and innovative products made in China have profoundly enriched market supplies and lowered the inflation, benefiting Belgian businesses and consumers alike.

Cainiao Network's smart logistics hub in Liege Airport.

Credit: China Daily

In the past year, trade between China and Belgium totaled over USD 40 billion, and our two countries have nearly 30 direct passenger flights a week connecting our capitals and major cities.

The inauguration of the Brussels-Beijing route of Air China.

Credit: Xinhua

This year marks the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Belgium. 55 years on, both countries are far better off working with each other, rain or shine. Going forward, there is still great potential for bilateral cooperation across the sectors likeR&D, education, agriculture, logistics, green transition and connectivity.

In a spirit of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, China will continue to share with Belgium the fruits of Chinese modernization and its super-scale market of 1.4 billion people, making both of our two nations more prosperous and serving the greater good of the world and humanity.