China’s gross domestic product is on track to reach about 140 trillion yuan (US$19.5 trillion) this year, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a State Council Information Office briefing in Beijing on 9 July. Over the entire 14th Five-Year Plan period running from 2021 to 2025, the economy’s cumulative expansion is projected to exceed 35 trillion yuan (US$4.89 trillion), a gain Zheng noted is larger than the output of the world’s third-largest economy. Real GDP grew an average 5.5 percent in 2021-24, with domestic demand contributing roughly 86 percent of that growth. Officials said foreign direct investment reached 4.7 trillion yuan (US$657 billion) between 2021 and May 2025, already surpassing the inflows recorded during the previous five-year plan. Energy consumption per unit of GDP has fallen 11.6 percent since 2021, while the country has added more than 12 million urban jobs annually and retained its status as the world’s largest manufacturing nation for 15 consecutive years. Zheng added that external restrictions on technology would only reinforce China’s drive for innovation and self-reliance as policymakers press ahead with the remaining targets of the current five-year blueprint.