Blog: China’s 15th Five Year Plan: What it means for Africa

In a recent Xinhua interview, Dr. Tebogo Lefifi discusses the opportunities and risks China’s 15th Five‑Year Plan poses for African economies.

As China enters the first year of its 15th Five‑Year Plan (2026–2030), the policy focus is shifting from rapid growth towards resilience, industrial depth and stronger institutions. This shift has important implications for how African countries think about industrialisation, intellectual property and participation in global value chains.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, I reflected on three aspects that are particularly relevant for African policymakers and scholars. China’s emphasis on “new quality productive forces” signals a move from competing on scale to competing on sophistication, including the ability to shape global standards in sectors such as advanced manufacturing and energy storage. The continued centrality of critical minerals like lithium, copper and cobalt also means the key question for African producers is not access to demand, but how partnerships are structured to enable value addition, technology transfer and local capability building. China’s stated commitment to “high‑standard opening up” and to multilateralism further matters in a context of rising protectionism, with consequences for competition law, data governance and infrastructure finance across the Global South.

For researchers across Africa, these shifts open up fresh questions about law and policy on the continent. They also put a spotlight on how African countries design IP, competition and data rules so that they attract Chinese investments while still serving long‑term developmental goals.

The full Xinhua interview can be accessed here:

https://english.news.cn/africa/20260308/6dd34aa552af40a8bff28f27e5628465/c.html