At the press conference on March 8, 2026, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi elaborated on how China’s foreign service supports its national development.

Wang Yi noted, the 15th Five-Year Plan offers a new blueprint for China’s development and a new vision of win-win cooperation with the rest of the world. This is the first year of its implementation. China’s diplomatic service will actively coordinate resources at our disposal to create a more favorable international environment for China’s high-quality development and modernization. There are three priorities.

First, we will continue to be an enabler of high-standard opening up. Leveraging high-level exchanges and major diplomatic events, we will continue to facilitate high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, expand the network of high-standard free trade areas, keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, and secure a fair, open and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies operating abroad.

Second, we will continue to expand the fast track for people-to-people exchanges. To date, we have granted unilateral visa exemption to 50 countries and made mutual visa-free entry arrangements with 29 countries. Last year, as many as 73 percent of visitors came visa-free. Going forward, we will continue to refine cross-border travel policies, further leverage the benefits of visa-free entry, and upgrade support services. The goal is to both make it more convenient and comfortable for foreigners to travel and live in China, and make it safer and smoother for Chinese citizens to travel abroad.

Third, we will continue to open new windows of connectivity. We will innovate and upgrade the program of “Beyond the Capital” diplomatic tour, and speed up the building of an information platform for high-quality development envisioned by the 15th Five-Year Plan. These efforts will help China’s subnational entities better access global resources, share governance experience, and expand international cooperation. In this way, the diplomatic service will be able to better empower development across the country.