Systematically Advancing the Building of a Strong Country during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period

The *Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China* (hereinafter referred to as the *Outline*) states: “The 15th Five-Year Plan period occupies an important position of linking the past and the future in the process of basically realizing socialist modernization, and is a critical period for consolidating the foundation and exerting full force.” Building a modern socialist country in all respects requires not only making significant progress in various fields, but also forming an overall effectiveness in which different areas support each other. Precisely for this reason, the *Outline* adds five new goals—building a strong country in aerospace, energy, finance, agriculture, and tourism—aiming to use these key pillar industries as cornerstones to solidify the foundation for the autonomous operation of the national development system. It can be said that the 16 goals for building a strong country form a systematic engineering overall plan, which will promote the systematic autonomy of China’s economic and social development by strengthening mutual support among various fields, thereby laying a solid foundation for comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

《中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展第十五个五年规划纲要》（以下简称《纲要》）指出：“‘十五五’时期在基本实现社会主义现代化进程中具有承前启后的重要地位，是夯实基础、全面发力的关键时期。”全面建设社会主义现代化国家，不仅要求在各领域都取得显著进展，更要形成相互支撑的整体效能。正因如此，《纲要》新增航天强国、能源强国、金融强国、农业强国、旅游强国五项目标，旨在以这些关键支柱产业为基石，筑牢国家发展体系自主运转的根本。可以说，16项强国建设目标形成了一套系统工程的整体方案，将通过强化各领域的相互支撑，推动我国经济社会发展的体系化自主，为全面建成社会主义现代化强国夯实根基。

Systematic Autonomy: The Requirements of the Era for Building a Strong Country

体系化自主：强国建设的时代要求

Since reform and opening up, China’s modernization drive has followed the logic of “catching up,” benchmarking against international advanced levels in various fields and gradually narrowing the gap. Today, the construction of a strong country in various fields has achieved initial results, but the capabilities in different areas inevitably experience rhythm misalignment in the process of dynamic development. More importantly, the problems China faces in fields such as technology, energy, and finance are not independent of each other but are deeply influenced by the global division of labor system. This means that breakthroughs in a single field need to be connected with progress in other fields to be transformed into overall advantages. At the same time, the complex and volatile international situation makes the realization of systematic autonomous transformation even more urgent. Thus, achieving systematic autonomy has become an important goal for promoting the building of a strong country during China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period.

改革开放以来，我国现代化建设遵循“跟跑”逻辑，在各领域对标国际先进水平，逐渐缩小差距。如今，各领域强国建设已初见成效，但各领域能力在动态发展过程中难免出现节拍错位。更重要的是，我国在技术、能源、金融等领域面临的问题并非彼此独立，而是受到全球分工体系的深刻影响。这意味着，单一领域的突破还需要与其他领域的进展相衔接，才能转化为整体优势。同时，错综复杂的国际形势又使得实现体系化自主转型更加迫切。由此，实现体系化自主成为我国“十五五”时期推进强国建设的一个重要目标。

Systematic autonomy does not mean self-sufficiency or self-isolation; a well-coordinated internal system is precisely capable of participating in global cooperation with a more composed posture. At the same time, systematic autonomy does not equal the simple sum of achieving autonomous control in each field separately. Even if the 16 goals for building a strong country are each achieved, if there is a lack of robust mutual support among them, the entire system may still fall into passivity due to the rupture of key links. Therefore, what systematic autonomy truly emphasizes is the organic linkage among various fields, forming an overall effectiveness greater than the sum of its parts. Grasping this logic is necessary to understand the *Outline*’s deep intention in expanding the goals for building a strong country from 11 to 16—not to catch up separately in more fields, but to fill in the basic links necessary for the systematic autonomous operation, so that the 16 goals form a complete linkage architecture.

体系化自主不等于自给自足、自我封闭，一个内部协同良好的体系恰恰有能力以更从容的姿态参与全球合作。同时，体系化自主也不等于各领域分别实现自主可控的简单加总。即便16项强国建设目标各自达成，若彼此之间缺乏稳健的相互支撑，整个体系仍可能因关键环节的断裂而陷入被动。因此，体系化自主真正强调的，是各领域之间的有机联动，形成大于各部分之和的整体效能。把握了这一逻辑，才能理解《纲要》将强国建设目标从11项扩展至16项的深层意图——不是在更多领域分别追赶，而是补齐体系化自主运转所必需的基础环节，使16项目标之间形成完整的联动架构。

Systematic Layout: The Internal Logic of Building a Strong Country

体系化布局：强国建设的内在逻辑

The existing construction of a strong country has achieved remarkable results, but there is still room for improvement in systematic coordination. Around the previously established 11 goals for building a strong country, China has already built a certain capability foundation during the construction process, such as the production and circulation capacity of the real economy, the driving mechanism of innovation-driven development, and the channels and infrastructure connecting domestic and international markets, and has formed preliminary synergy and linkage. However, systematic autonomy still needs to be strengthened. For example, the further advancement of building a strong manufacturing country places higher demands on the autonomy of the energy supply system; the construction of a strong country in science and technology and a strong manufacturing country imposes multiple requirements on the financial system, which needs to achieve autonomy and efficiency to support long-cycle, high-intensity capital investment and global talent competition, while also requiring it to always serve the real economy and avoid “shifting from real to virtual”; and so on.

既有强国建设成效显著，但体系协同仍有提升空间。围绕此前确立的11项强国目标，我国在建设过程中已经具备了一定的能力基础，如实体经济的生产与流通能力、创新驱动的动力机制、联通国内外市场的通道与基础设施等，并形成了初步的协同联动。然而，体系化自主仍需加强，如制造强国的进一步推进，对能源供给体系的自主性提出了更高要求；科技强国和制造强国建设对金融体系提出了多重要求，既需要其实现自主高效以支撑长周期、高强度的资本投入和全球人才竞争，又要求其始终服务于实体经济，避免“脱实向虚”；等等。

The *Outline* focuses on the overall system and fills in key links by adding five new goals for building a strong country. The five newly added goals connect the system from dimensions such as underlying power, future space, and resilience foundation. First, building a strong country in energy and a strong country in finance provide support for the system’s operation. Energy is the basic condition required for production, while finance is a key means of resource allocation. Currently, the autonomy of China’s energy supply and financial services still needs to be enhanced; further consolidating these two basic links will provide more stable support for advancing the construction of a strong manufacturing country, a strong country in science and technology, and a strong trading country. In this context, building a strong energy country upgrades the logic of energy security from supply assurance to technology leadership, while building a strong financial country is committed to constructing an autonomous financial system that efficiently serves the real economy. Second, building a strong aerospace country opens up space for system upgrading. As the current technological paradigm evolves toward “integration of space and earth,” aerospace is transforming from a frontier exploration field into the infrastructure of future information systems and industrial systems. Particularly important is that the stringent requirements of aerospace technology for reliability under extreme working conditions make it a natural key technology incubation platform for fields such as new materials, precision instruments, and advanced manufacturing, with strong spillover effects. The addition of building a strong aerospace country provides an extension platform for the capability building of a strong country in science and technology, a strong manufacturing country, and a strong cyber country toward next-generation technologies, expanding strategic depth for the future development of the entire system. Third, building a strong agricultural country and a strong tourism country build a defense line for system resilience. Facing changes unseen in a century, a system capable of autonomous operation must withstand tests under extreme scenarios. The core of building a strong agricultural country lies in shifting the security logic from output orientation to resilience orientation, ensuring survival resilience under extreme conditions through breakthroughs in seed industry and agricultural technological progress; building a strong tourism country focuses on unleashing domestic demand potential, shifting consumption momentum from outward outflow to inward activation, while coordinating with building a strong cultural country to promote cultural dissemination and mutual learning among civilizations, both jointly consolidating the development resilience of the system.

《纲要》着眼体系全局，通过新增五项强国目标补齐关键环节。五项新增目标分别从底层动力、未来空间和韧性基础等维度贯通了体系。其一，能源强国和金融强国为体系运转提供支撑。能源是生产所需的基础条件，金融则是资源配置的关键手段。当前，我国的能源供给与金融服务的自主性仍有待增强，进一步夯实这两个基础环节，将为制造强国、科技强国、贸易强国的推进提供更加稳固的支撑。在此背景下，能源强国建设将能源安全逻辑从供应保障升级为技术主导，金融强国建设则致力于构建高效服务实体经济的自主金融体系。其二，航天强国为体系升级打开空间。随着当前技术范式向“天地一体化”方向演进，航天正从前沿探索领域转变为未来信息体系和产业体系的基础设施。尤为重要的是，航天技术对极致工况下可靠性的严苛要求，使其天然成为新材料、精密仪器、先进制造等领域的关键技术孵化平台，具有很强的外溢效应。航天强国的加入，使科技强国、制造强国、网络强国的能力建设获得了向下一代技术延伸的平台，为整个体系拓展了未来发展提供了战略纵深。其三，农业强国和旅游强国为体系韧性筑牢防线。面对世界百年未有之大变局，一个具备自主运转能力的体系必须经得起极端情境的考验。农业强国建设的核心在于将安全逻辑从产量导向转向韧性导向，通过种业突破和农业科技进步确保极端情况下的生存韧性；旅游强国建设着眼于释放内需潜力，将消费动能从外向型流出转向内向型激活，同时与文化强国相配合，促进文化传播与文明互鉴，二者共同夯实体系的发展韧性。

Systematic Promotion: New Requirements for Building a Strong Country

体系化推进：强国建设的全新要求

The development framework of systematic autonomy formed by the 16 goals for building a strong country places new demands on the country’s governance capacity. The new capabilities required in the stage of systematic autonomy demand that the state, in addition to effectively building in various fields, also form an architecture for effective coordination among fields, to set the overall direction of the system and coordinate the collaborative co-evolution of various fields.

16项强国目标共同构成的体系化自主的发展架构，对国家的治理能力提出了新要求。体系化自主阶段需要的新能力要求国家除了在各领域做有效建设外，还需在各领域间形成有效协同的架构，以设定体系的整体方向，协调各领域的协作共演。

First, moving from field-specific management to cross-field coordination. The 16 goals for building a strong country belong to different departments and systems, but the essence of systematic autonomy lies in the organic linkage among goals, such as building a strong energy country requiring financial support, building a strong aerospace country requiring manufacturing support, and building a strong agricultural country requiring scientific and technological capability backing. The current fragmented management system based on vertical and horizontal divisions has obvious advantages in concentrating forces within specific fields, but cross-field coordination capabilities still need to be strengthened. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, cross-field coordination mechanisms should be explored and established, so that resource allocation, policy design, and rhythm arrangement among different strong-country constructions can be interconnected, forming systematic synergy rather than simple superposition.

第一，从领域分管走向跨领域协同。16项强国目标分属不同部门和系统，但体系化自主的要义在于目标之间的有机联动，如能源强国需要金融支撑、航天强国需要制造业配套、农业强国需要科技能力托底等。现行的条块分割管理体制在特定领域内集中力量方面优势明显，但跨领域协同能力仍待强化。“十五五”时期，应探索建立跨领域的协同机制，使不同强国建设之间的资源配置、政策设计和节奏安排能够相互衔接，形成体系合力而非简单叠加。

Second, moving from single-indicator assessment to system-effectiveness evaluation. Under the logic of “catching up,” the assessment standard was to set independent quantitative indicators for each field, with meeting the target as the main measure of success. However, under the logic of systematic autonomy, achieving a single indicator does not equate to improving system capability. A field with outstanding indicators but disconnected from other fields may have limited contribution to overall effectiveness; conversely, a field with unremarkable apparent results, if it effectively supports other key links, may have strategic value far beyond what simple data can reflect. This requires shifting the evaluation mindset from focusing on whether each indicator is achieved to focusing on whether effective coordination has been formed among various links.

第二，从单项指标考核走向体系效能评估。“跟跑”逻辑下的考核标准，是为各领域设定独立的量化指标，以达标为成功的主要衡量标准。但在体系化自主的逻辑下，单项指标达成不等于体系能力提升。一个领域指标亮眼但与其他领域脱节，对整体效能的贡献可能有限；反之，某个领域的账面成果虽不突出，但若有效支撑了其他关键环节，其战略价值可能远非单纯的数据所能反映。这要求评估思路从关注各项指标是否达成转向关注各环节之间是否形成了有效协同。

Third, moving from defensive response to actively shaping the pattern of openness. Systematic autonomy by no means means building a closed system. Currently, it is particularly necessary to guard against “autonomy” being simplistically equated with “substitution,” causing the construction mindset to slide toward inward closure. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we should accelerate the construction of autonomous capabilities in weak links, actively expand openness in advantageous fields, attract global innovation elements through institutional openness, and enhance rule-making capabilities. Our goal is not to detach from the existing global system, but to transform from a passive adapter of the system to an active shaper, using the certainty of the domestic great circulation to respond to the uncertainty of global turbulence, and reshaping the connection with the world based on autonomous capabilities.

第三，从防御性应对走向主动塑造开放格局。体系化自主绝非构建封闭体系。当前，尤需警惕“自主”被简单等同于“替代”，致使建设思路滑向内向封闭。“十五五”时期，要在薄弱环节加快自主能力建设，在优势领域主动扩大开放，通过制度型开放吸引全球创新要素，提升规则制定能力。我们的目标不是脱离现有全球体系，而是从体系的被动适应者转变为积极塑造者，以国内大循环的确定性应对全球动荡的不确定性，以自主能力为基础重塑与世界的连接方式。

(The authors are a professor at the School of Marxism, Tsinghua University; and a doctoral student at the Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

（作者系清华大学马克思主义学院教授；中国科学院科技战略咨询研究院博士研究生）