The 14th “five-year plan” is the current “five-year plan” active in China. It is shorthand for the “Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035”. It was drafted by the State Council and approved in March 2021 at the annual “two sessions” – an annual gathering in Beijing of influential political figures. The policy document lists the nation’s 20 most important economic and social targets from 2021-2025 and explains the government’s long-term developmental goals, setting tasks in areas from the economy through to “ecological civilisation”. The outline provides a taste of the range of regional and sectoral plans that were published over the following year. (Read Carbon Brief’s in-depth Q&A in detail.)