Late in 2025, a symphony concert featuring top Chinese musicians was staged in Beijing to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the premiere of The Long March Suite — The Red Army Fears Not the Trials of the Expedition, a classic work of 20th-century Chinese music. It was a major event in the music scene, but its symbolism went far beyond music, highlighting the unique historical significance of the period from 2025 to 2026 in the journey of the Chinese nation.

From a historical vantage point, this is a moment to salute victory. In 2025, China marked the 80th anniversary of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War. That war represented the first complete victory against foreign invasion in modern Chinese history. In 2026, the country will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March. A monumental feat in war history, the Long March signified the turning point where the Communist Party of China transitioned from setbacks to triumphs, symbolizing a rebirth forged through blood and fire.

This period is also a pivotal relay point in China's development planning. In March, the National People's Congress will review the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for National Economic and Social Development, making 2026 the inaugural year of the new five-year plan, which holds a special position in the national development calendar.

Official assessments have described 2025 as "extraordinarily remarkable" and "of great significance in the process of Chinese modernization". The year witnessed the successful conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), making a promising start for the journey toward the country's second centenary goal — building a modern socialist country in all aspects.

At the end of 2025, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee summarized China's achievements over the past five years as significant enhancement in hard power encompassing economy, technology, defense, and soft power including culture, institutions, diplomacy. Such a balanced progress in both soft and hard power is rare, and 2025 provided a vivid illustration.

Despite external headwinds unseen in decades, China's GDP is expected to grow by around 5 percent, with the total economic volume reaching 140 trillion yuan ($20.02 trillion) in 2025. A series of mega-projects, including the opening of the world's highest bridge in Guizhou, the commissioning of China's first electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier Fujian and the first asteroid exploration and sample return journey with the Tianwen-2 mission, showcased the nation's spectacular advancements in technology.

The popularity of DeepSeek and the rise of the humanoid robot industry partly reflect what critics describe as a breakout phase for tech innovations. In an article widely circulated in the Chinese media, The Economist asked How China Became Cool, and found answers in artificial intelligence models, electric vehicles, drones, and original games. Coincidentally, according to a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization, for the first time China ranked among the top 10 countries in the Global Innovation Index, being one of the fastest-improving economies in innovation over the past decade.

Other developments during 2025 were equally significant. On Dec 18 — exactly 47 years after the epoch-making third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee — the Hainan Free Trade Port launched island-wide customs closure, signaling the Party's determination to advance reform and opening-up. And 120 years after China began to build its first self-designed railway between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, the Xi'an-Yan'an high-speed railway began operations in the holy land of the Chinese revolution. With this, China's high-speed rail network spans over 50,000 kilometers, exceeding the combined length of the rest of the world.

The year 2025 was a landmark for the rise of China's soft power. According to Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index 2025, China surpassed the United Kingdom for the first time, rising to second place during the year. Concurrently, a US media outlet proclaimed "The Dawning of the Age of Chinese Soft Power". China's "new trio" of cultural exports — online literature, games, and dramas — accelerated their global reach. Ne Zha 2 topped the global box office for animated films, the AAA game Black Myth: Wukong became a sensation, and the trendy toy Labubu was a hot seller in the European and US markets.

Even so, formidable challenges lie ahead. Besides the external risks facing the country, the Central Economic Work Conference in December emphasized "stabilizing employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations", reminding people of the difficulties faced by the economy. Supply-demand imbalances, particularly with employment, continue to put pressure on businesses and individuals. In the longer term, uneven and insufficient development, the transition from old to new growth drivers and the tasks of overcoming bottlenecks amid intensifying international competition remain challenging.

As pointed out by the top leadership, achieving modernization is a lengthy process of progressive and continuous development. Therefore, the Long March must continue, enduring new hardships and overcoming new challenges to achieve new heights and reach new horizons. Seventy-five years ago, China drafted its first five-year plan, and 10 years from now, marking the 100th anniversary of the Long March, the country would have basically realized socialist modernization.

The author is chief researcher at the China Watch Institute, China Daily.