'Reform' and 'innovation' frequent keywords in China's 2026 government work report, appearing 75 times

Shen Danyang, head of the government work report drafting team and director of the State Council Research Office, attends a press briefing on the 2026 Report on the Work of the Government held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) in Beijing, March 5, 2026. (Photo by Xu Xiang/China SCIO)

The words "reform" and "innovation" appeared 75 times in China's 2026 government work report, becoming frequent keywords in the document, according to Shen Danyang, head of the team responsible for drafting this year's government work report.

The 2026 government work report takes promoting high-quality development as the theme and emphasizes a strong start, intensified efforts to boost technological innovation, benefiting people's well-being, and actionable measures, Shen, who is also the director of the State Council Research Office, said at a press briefing on the 2026 Report on the Work of the Government held Thursday by the State Council Information Office.

The report outlines a wide range of reforms in key areas, including the formulation of regulations for building a unified national market, reforms for zero-based budgeting, and higher education reforms to be advanced by category, according to Shen.

The document also proposes initiatives to cultivate new growth drivers and accelerate efforts to achieve greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, Shen said.

He noted that the initiatives include developing new business forms for smart economy, boosting capacity expansion and quality improvement in the service sector, strengthening original innovation, and intensifying efforts to achieve breakthroughs in critical core technologies in key areas.

The drafting team attached great importance to public input, collecting netizens' suggestions from multiple websites in collaboration with the Chinese government portal, and carefully reviewing and incorporating feasible proposals, according to Shen.

Issues raised by the public, such as opposing "involution-style" competition, protecting the rights and interests of workers working for platform firms, and ensuring medications at the grassroots level, are all responded to in the report, Shen said.

He also noted that the report maintains a concise, clear, accessible, and down-to-earth style just like last year.