China’s journal publishing industry stands at a critical juncture as the country moves from the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025) to the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan. This transition coincides with accelerated modernization, rapid diffusion of data- and AI-driven technologies, and an increasingly complex global environment. Against this backdrop, this study examines how Chinese journals can reposition themselves from a primarily print-based, administratively driven system to a more market-responsive, digitally integrated and internationally competitive knowledge infrastructure. Drawing on policy text analysis, industry statistics and case studies of leading journal groups, this study first reviews key developments since 2021 in publishing operations, quality evaluation, structural layout, media convergence as well as the policy and funding framework. It identifies clear progress in terms of citation impact, clustering of high-quality titles, and the emergence of digital platforms and data services. Moreover, it highlights persistent challenges, including homogeneous editorial positioning; limited economies of scale and brand building; shallow forms of "digitization" that stop at format conversion; and a shortage of interdisciplinary talent that combines content expertise with data, product and technological capabilities. This paper argues that, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and China’s agenda for high-quality development, the 15th Five-Year Plan period calls for a redefinition of the core value of journals: from carriers of discrete articles to nodes in a national knowledge and innovation network.Specifically, this requires supply-side reform that prioritizes problem-oriented content, clearer field segmentation, and differentiated journal portfolios in key disciplines; systematic development, standardization and governance of journal data resources as strategic assets; and the deep embedding of artificial intelligence (AI) into peer review, production workflows, dissemination and user services on the basis of high-quality, responsibly governed Chinese-language corpora. Furthermore, this paper stresses the need to strengthen academic clusters and journal alliances in priority fields to overcome structural fragmentation, enhance international visibility and support open science practices compatible with China’s regulatory environment. Finally, it advocates an integrated approach to talent pipelines and governance modernization, combining editorial professionalism, technological literacy and managerial skills and aligning incentives for universities, research institutions and publishing organizations. By situating China’s journal reforms within broader debates on platformization and AI in scholarly communication, this paper offers a case study of how a large emerging knowledge system seeks to coordinate public value and market logic in the next phase of journal development. The findings may also be of interest to policymakers and publishers in other emerging markets facing similar pressures to upgrade their journal systems in the AI era.