The 15th Five-Year Plan: Where are the opportunities for digital assets?

Author: Zhang Feng

The "Suggestions of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Suggestions") was adopted in October 2025, systematically outlining the blueprint for national development over the next five years. In the process of comprehensively advancing Chinese-style modernization, the construction of "Digital China" has been given an important strategic position, explicitly proposing key tasks such as "deepening the construction of Digital China," "improving the basic system of data elements," and "building an open, shared, and secure national integrated data market.". Against this backdrop, the development and utilization of digital assets are ushering in unprecedented policy opportunities and development space. The "Suggestions" explicitly propose "improving the basic system for data elements" and emphasize "building an open, shared, and secure national integrated data market." This means that in the next five years, my country will accelerate the marketization, legalization, and standardization of data elements, laying the institutional foundation for the development and utilization of digital assets. The mechanisms for confirming and circulating data resources will be gradually improved. The "Suggestions" propose "deepening the development and utilization of data resources" and emphasize "improving property rights protection." In the future, the state will promote the establishment of systems for data property rights definition, data classification and grading, and data trading rules, facilitating the transformation of data resources from a "dormant" state into tradable and value-added digital assets. Enterprises should focus on the construction of data asset registration, evaluation, and trading platforms, and actively participate in data element market pilots. The integration and development of public and social data presents opportunities. The "Suggestions" propose "promoting the integration and sharing of government data, public data, and social data." In fields such as healthcare, transportation, environmental protection, and urban governance, the government will promote data openness and sharing, providing enterprises with abundant sources of digital assets. Enterprises with data cleaning, modeling, and analysis capabilities will gain a competitive advantage in data value-added services. Data security and privacy protection have become prerequisites for development. The "Suggestions" emphasize "strengthening national security capabilities in emerging fields such as networks, data, and artificial intelligence." In the process of data development and utilization, compliance and security will become thresholds for enterprises to participate in market competition. Technologies such as privacy computing, blockchain, and data anonymization will play a key role in the process of data assetization. II. Smart Contracts and Blockchain: Promoting the Automation and Trustworthiness of Digital Assets Although the "Suggestions" do not directly mention "blockchain" or "smart contracts," their statements such as "accelerating innovation in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence" and "improving supervision" provide policy space for the implementation and application of smart contracts. Smart contracts will be first implemented in the government and financial sectors. In areas such as government services, supply chain finance, and intellectual property protection, smart contracts can automate, make transparent, and prevent tampering of business processes. For example, in scenarios such as government procurement, land registration, and copyright transactions, smart contracts can effectively improve efficiency and reduce the risk of disputes. Blockchain + Digital Identity Builds a Trusted Digital Ecosystem. The "Suggestions" propose "promoting the construction of a rule-of-law society" and "creating a good environment in which the whole society respects the rule of law, abides by rules, respects contracts, and safeguards fairness." The combination of blockchain technology and digital identity can establish a trusted digital identity system for individuals and enterprises, supporting the registration, trading, and rights protection of digital assets.

RegTech and compliant smart contracts will emerge.With the development of the digital asset market, regulatory agencies will continuously increase their requirements for anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and data compliance. Smart contract systems with automated compliance checks will become a necessity for financial institutions and platform enterprises.

III. Digital Asset Applications Empowering: From Finance to the Real Economy, From Consumption to Governance

The "Recommendations" clearly propose "comprehensively implementing the 'Artificial Intelligence+' action" and "leading the paradigm shift in scientific research with artificial intelligence," and emphasize "promoting the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy." As a key element of the digital economy, digital assets will play an empowering role in multiple fields.

The digitalization of financial assets is accelerating. The "Suggestions" propose "steadily developing the digital RMB" and "actively developing direct financing such as equity and bonds." In the future, the digital issuance, registration, and trading of traditional financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and bills will gradually become widespread. The combination of the digital RMB and smart contracts can support the application of programmable money in scenarios such as targeted payments and supply chain finance. The digitalization of cultural assets and intellectual property is also underway. The "Suggestions" propose "accelerating the development of the cultural industry" and "promoting the systematic protection of cultural heritage." Digital collectibles (NFTs), digital copyrights, and digital cultural and creative products will usher in development opportunities. Cultural institutions and content creators can leverage blockchain technology to assetize and protect the copyright of digital content. The "Suggestions" emphasize "accelerating the construction of a new energy system" and "actively and steadily promoting and achieving carbon peaking." The national carbon emission trading market will expand its coverage, and the registration, trading, and verification of carbon assets require the support of a digital platform. Blockchain technology can improve the transparency and credibility of carbon data, contributing to the development of green finance. The "Suggestions" also propose "promoting the construction of dual-use urban public infrastructure" and "building innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, civilized, and intelligent modern people's cities." Digital assets such as digital identity, digital property, and digital transportation will play a crucial role in the construction of smart cities. The "Suggestions" explicitly propose "appropriately advanced construction of new infrastructure" in the section on "Building a Modern Infrastructure System," and emphasize "promoting the construction and intensive, efficient utilization of information and communication networks, a nationwide integrated computing power network, and major scientific and technological infrastructure." Computing power networks and cloud computing facilities are the "soil" for digital assets. The construction of a nationwide integrated computing power network will provide efficient and low-cost infrastructure for the storage, computing, and trading of digital assets. Enterprises should pay attention to the layout of national computing power hub nodes and actively participate in major projects such as East-West data processing and edge computing. Artificial intelligence and big data platforms are the "engines" of digital assets. The "Suggestions" propose to "accelerate the innovation of digital intelligence technologies such as artificial intelligence." Advances in AI technology in areas such as data annotation, content generation, and risk identification will promote the intelligent development and management of digital assets. Blockchain and distributed ledger technology are the "skeleton" of digital assets. Although not directly named, goals such as "improving the basic system for data elements" and "building an open, shared, and secure national integrated data market" cannot be achieved without the support of distributed ledger technology. Consortium blockchains, cross-chain technologies, and zero-knowledge proofs will play a crucial role in data sharing and asset circulation. V. Challenges and Suggestions: How to Seize Digital Asset Opportunities During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period? Despite significant policy dividends, the development of digital assets still faces multiple challenges, including technological maturity, legal regulations, and market acceptance. Enterprises should focus on the following aspects: Strengthening technology research and development and standards construction. Actively participating in the formulation of national and industry standards, and promoting the integration and innovation of technologies such as blockchain, AI, and privacy computing. Emphasis should be placed on compliance and risk control. Close attention should be paid to the dynamics of the Data Security Law, the Cybersecurity Law, and digital asset regulatory policies to establish a compliance management system. Cross-sector cooperation and ecosystem building should be explored. Collaboration with governments, financial institutions, technology companies, and research institutions should be undertaken to jointly promote the application of digital assets in specific scenarios. Professional talent in digital assets should be cultivated. Talent reserves in areas such as blockchain, data science, smart contracts, and compliance and risk control should be strengthened. The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial stage for my country to basically realize socialist modernization. The development and utilization of digital assets will become an important force in promoting high-quality economic development, enhancing national governance capabilities, and advancing social progress. Guided by the "Suggestions," systemic breakthroughs will be achieved in areas such as the marketization of data elements, the application of smart contracts, the empowerment of the real economy by digital assets, and the construction of new digital infrastructure. Only by grasping the policy direction, strengthening technological capabilities, and adhering to compliance bottom lines can we seize the initiative in the new wave of digital assets and contribute digital power to China's modernization.