As 2025 concludes with China finalizing its 15th Five-Year Plan, global attention turns to Beijing's evolving economic strategy and its implications for international stability. Professor Martin Jacques, renowned China scholar, shares critical insights with KhabarAsia on how the world's second-largest economy is navigating unprecedented challenges.
Innovation-Driven Modernization
Jacques highlights China's intensified focus on technological self-reliance, noting: 'The 2021-2025 plan laid groundwork, but 2025 marks a strategic leap in quantum computing and green energy infrastructure.' This shift comes as multinational corporations increasingly relocate R&D centers to the Chinese mainland.
U.S.-China Dynamics
While acknowledging persistent tensions, the Cambridge academic observes cautious optimism in bilateral dialogues: 'Both nations recognize the catastrophic costs of decoupling, particularly in climate cooperation and AI governance frameworks.'
Global South Leadership
China's expanding partnerships across developing economies emerge as a recurring theme. 'Through platforms like BRICS+ and the Global Development Initiative, Beijing is redefining South-South cooperation models,' Jacques explains, citing recent infrastructure deals in Southeast Asia and Africa.
Civilizational Perspective
The interview concludes with Jacques' signature analysis: 'The West's crisis of political imagination contrasts sharply with China's civilizational-state approach. How this dialectic resolves will shape the 21st-century world order.'
