China
China Aims for Enhanced Leadership in Ocean Governance
China has concluded its 2026 ‘Two Sessions’ and released the latest 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–30. Since 1953, these plans have served as the Communist Party of China’s central blueprint for social and economic development, outlining Beijing’s medium-term policy priorities and strategic direction. The latest plan shows China looking beyond participation in global ocean governance towards a greater role in shaping its rules.
Among the four strategic frontiers China has prioritised — deep sea, polar regions, outer space and cyberspace — two fall within the maritime domain. Maritime strategy has gained prominence in national planning since 2012, when Beijing declared its goal to ‘build a strong maritime state’. The 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–15) introduced a dedicated chapter on maritime affairs, while the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–20) was the first to explicitly articulate this goal. The latest plan is the third consecutive iteration to reaffirm this objective.
Given the plan’s economic orientation, its maritime agenda is unsurprisingly framed in economic terms. But there is a notable shift in emphasis. Earlier plans focused on expanding the ‘blue economy’, while the new plan emphasises ‘strengthening maritime development, utilisation and protection’. The change in framing signals a move away from simply expanding maritime space towards governing and using that space more effectively.
Within ocean governance, familiar concepts such as a ‘maritime community with a shared future’ and ‘blue partnerships’ are carried forward from the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–25), alongside the goal of building a ‘fair and reasonable international maritime order’. These slogans reflect China’s broader ambition to shape global ocean governance both normatively and institutionally.
What is new is a more proactive tone in how China envisions its role. In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government merely pledged to ‘actively participate in the establishment and maintenance of the international and regional maritime order’. By the 14th Five-Year Plan, this had become a commitment to ‘deeply participate in international ocean governance mechanisms’. The 15th Five-Year Plan goes further still, calling for ‘proactive participation in the formulation of international maritime rules’.
