Over the first four years of the period, the economy expanded at an average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said on July 9 at a press conference.

Despite the shocks of the pandemic and trade bullying, China's growth is an unprecedented achievement given its vast economic scale, Zheng said.

Highlighting the great economic dynamism, Zheng said the country's total R&D expenditure surged nearly 50 percent, or 1.2 trillion yuan, from 2020 to 2024, and the number of registered private enterprises surpassed 58 million at the end of May 2025, over 40 percent higher than 2020.