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

Author: Zhang Feng

The “Suggestions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Suggestions”) was passed in October 2025, systematically outlining the blueprint for the country's development over the next five years. In the process of comprehensively promoting Chinese-style modernization, the construction of “Digital China” has been assigned an important strategic position, clearly 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 nationwide integrated data market”. Against this backdrop, the development and utilization of digital assets welcome unprecedented policy opportunities and development space.

1. Marketization of Data Elements: Establishing the Institutional Foundation for the Development and Utilization of Digital Assets

The “Suggestions” clearly propose to “improve the basic system for data elements” and emphasize the need to “build an open, shared, and secure national integrated data market.” This means that in the next five years, our country will accelerate the marketization, legalization, and standardization process of data elements, laying a systematic foundation for the development and utilization of digital assets.

The confirmation of data resources and the circulation mechanism will gradually improve. The “Suggestions” propose to “deepen the development and utilization of data resources” and emphasize the “improvement of property rights protection.” In the future, the state will promote the construction of systems such as defining data property rights, data classification and grading, and data trading rules, facilitating the transformation of data resources from a “sleeping” state to tradable and value-added digital assets. Enterprises should focus on the construction of data asset registration, evaluation, and trading platforms, and actively participate in pilot projects for data factor markets.

The Integration and Development of Public Data and Social Data is Welcoming Opportunities. The “Suggestions” propose to “promote 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 a wealth of digital asset sources. Enterprises with data cleaning, modeling, and analysis capabilities will gain a competitive edge in data value-added services.

Data security and privacy protection have become prerequisites for development. The “Suggestions” emphasize the need to “strengthen national security capacity building 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 de-identification will play a key role in the process of data assetization.

2. Smart Contracts and Blockchain: Driving the Automation and Trustworthiness of Digital Assets

Although the “Suggestions” do not directly mention “blockchain” or “smart contracts,” they provide policy space for the implementation of smart contracts through expressions such as “accelerating innovation in digital intelligence technologies like artificial intelligence” and “improving regulation.”

Smart contracts will first be implemented in the fields of government affairs and finance. In areas such as government services, supply chain finance, and intellectual property protection, smart contracts can achieve automation, transparency, and immutability 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 to Build a Trustworthy Digital Ecology. The “Proposal” suggests “promoting the construction of a law-based society” and “creating a good environment in which the whole society values the rule of law, abides by the rules, respects contracts, and maintains fairness.” The combination of blockchain technology and digital identity can establish a trustworthy digital identity system for individuals and enterprises, supporting the registration, trading, and protection of digital assets.

Regulatory Technology (RegTech) and Compliance Smart Contracts Will Rise. With the development of the digital asset market, regulatory agencies' requirements for anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and data compliance will continue to increase. Smart contract systems with automatic compliance checking capabilities will become essential for financial institutions and platform enterprises.

3. Empowering Digital Asset Applications: From Finance to Physical, From Consumption to Governance

The “Suggestions” clearly propose to “comprehensively implement the 'Artificial Intelligence+' action” and “lead the transformation of research paradigms with artificial intelligence,” emphasizing the “promotion of deep integration between 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.

Accelerating the Digitization of Financial Assets. The “Suggestions” propose to “steadily develop the digital RMB” and “actively promote 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 digital RMB and smart contracts can support the application of programmable money in scenarios such as targeted payments and supply chain finance.

Digitalization of Cultural Assets and Intellectual Property. The “Suggestions” propose to “accelerate the development of the cultural industry” and “promote the systematic protection of cultural heritage.” Digital collectibles (NFTs), digital copyrights, and digital cultural and creative products will welcome development opportunities. Cultural institutions and content creators can leverage blockchain technology to achieve assetization and copyright protection of digital content.

Digitalization of Carbon Assets and Green Finance. The “Suggestions” emphasize the need to “accelerate the construction of a new energy system” and “actively and steadily promote and achieve carbon peaking.” The national carbon emission trading market will expand its coverage, and the registration, trading, and verification of carbon assets require support from digital platforms. Blockchain technology can enhance the transparency and credibility of carbon data, assisting in the development of green finance.

Digitalization of Urban Governance and Public Services. The “Suggestions” propose to “promote the construction of public infrastructure that integrates both emergency and regular use” and to “build a modern people-oriented city that is innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, civilized, and intelligent.” Digital assets in cities, such as digital identities, digital properties, and digital transportation, will play an important role in the construction of smart cities.

4. Building Technical Infrastructure: The Underlying Capabilities Supporting the Development of Digital Assets

The “Suggestions” clearly propose in the section “Building a Modern Infrastructure System” to “properly advance the construction of new-type infrastructure” and emphasize “promoting the construction and efficient utilization of information and communication networks, a national integrated computing network, and major scientific and technological infrastructure.”

The computing power network and cloud computing facilities are the “soil” of digital assets. The construction of a national integrated computing power network will provide efficient and low-cost infrastructure for the storage, computation, 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 Data West Computing and edge computing.

Artificial intelligence and big data platforms are the “engine” 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 labeling, 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 chains, cross-chain technology, zero-knowledge proofs, and other innovations will play a key role in data sharing and asset circulation.

V. Challenges and Suggestions: How to Seize Opportunities in Digital Assets During the “14th Five-Year Plan” Period?

Despite the significant policy dividends, the development of digital assets still faces multiple challenges such as technological maturity, legal regulations, and market acceptance. Enterprises should focus on the following aspects for layout:

Strengthen technological research and development and standard construction. Actively participate in the formulation of national and industry standards to promote the integrated innovation of technologies such as blockchain, AI, and privacy computing.

Focus on compliance and risk control. Pay close attention to the dynamics of data security laws, cybersecurity laws, and digital asset regulatory policies, and establish a compliance management system.

Explore cross-border cooperation and ecological co-construction. Collaborate with governments, financial institutions, technology companies, and research institutions to jointly promote the landing of digital assets in specific scenarios.

Cultivate professionals in digital assets. Strengthen the talent reserve in areas such as blockchain, data science, smart contracts, and compliance risk control.

The “13th Five-Year Plan” period is a key stage for our 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 facilitating social progress. Under the guidance of the “Recommendations”, systematic breakthroughs will be achieved in areas such as the marketization of data elements, the application of smart contracts, empowering the real economy with digital assets, and the construction of new digital infrastructure. Only by grasping policy direction, consolidating technical capabilities, and adhering to compliance boundaries can we seize opportunities in the new wave of digital assets and contribute digital strength to Chinese-style modernization.