ZAGREB, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan is crucial for the country's stable, long-term development, and carries great significance for the global economy, a former Croatian official has said.

China's Five-Year Plans demonstrate the importance of long-term planning, Davorko Vidovic, former deputy speaker of the Croatian Parliament, told Xinhua in an interview.

The past decades have shown that the under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the country has been making remarkable progress toward modernization and realized victory on major projects such as the fight against poverty, he said.

As the world's second-largest economy and a key engine for the global economy, China, with its 15th Five-Year Plan, "is crucial for the world," Vidovic said.

China is taking the lead in technology and innovation across multiple sectors, and "is advancing at an extraordinary pace, making major strides in cutting-edge technologies, with knowledge playing a key role in those breakthroughs," Vidovic said.

Vidovic, a frequent visitor to China, said he has been "deeply impressed" by the country's rapid advances in science and technology. He recalled taking a high-speed train from Beijing to Hefei in the southern province of Anhui last year, calling the trip "an incredible experience."

"It was a very fast, safe and comfortable ride," he said, adding that the scenery along the way left a lasting impression on him.

He highlighted China's drive for green development, saying the country is now prioritizing high-quality, environmentally sustainable growth, another key focus of the 15th Five-Year Plan in the making.

Citing the Peljesac Bridge and the Senj wind farm as examples of successful, win-win cooperation between the two nations, Vidovic hailed China for advocating for multilateralism and its willingness to share its development opportunities with other countries, including Croatia.

"I believe that there is still much more room for bilateral cooperation. Solutions and technological expertise from China can certainly be applied on a much larger scale," he added. ■