Can Economic Transitions Be Planned? China and the 13th Five-Year Plan

Abstract:

This paper looked at China's 13th five-year plan and considered whether it could enable a transition of the Chinese economy towards a more sustainable, inclusive and balanced growth model. Could such a transition, from a command economy to a market-based one, be planned? That remained a fundamental question. This Economic Brief discussed the issue by looking at how China's economic planning had evolved over time, at the strengths and weaknesses of the latest approved Five-Year Plan (FYP), and the political economy behind it. Its main conclusion was that because of the growing complexity of China’s economy and society, engineering such a transition was almost a "mission impossible". Still, economic transitions could be steered and de facto this was what the 13th FYP was trying to do.