China holds Central Economic Work Conference to make plans for 2025 and assess the performance on China’s growth during 2024.
The Central Economic Work Conference, held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday, set the economic priorities for 2025. Xi Jinping, President of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party, delivered a significant speech, reflecting on the country’s 2024 economic performance, analyzing current challenges, and laying out the plan for 2025. The meeting highlighted China’s stable economic growth in 2024, with significant progress in high-quality development, and the successful achievement of key goals. It emphasized that the policies introduced in September had fostered social confidence and helped to rebound the economy.
Despite external challenges and domestic difficulties, the conference assured that the underlying conditions for China’s long-term economic prosperity remain intact. The meeting stressed the importance of confronting difficulties with confidence and focusing on transforming positive factors into tangible development outcomes. It called for more proactive macroeconomic policies to maintain economic momentum, ensuring the goals of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) are achieved and providing a strong foundation for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).
For 2025, the conference emphasized maintaining steady economic growth, stabilizing employment, managing prices, ensuring balance in the balance of payments, and aligning income growth with economic expansion. The meeting proposed a more proactive fiscal policy with a higher deficit-to-GDP ratio and focused on enhancing the impact of fiscal measures. It called for the issuance of special treasury bonds, optimizing fiscal expenditure, and adopting a moderately loose monetary policy to ensure ample liquidity.
The meeting outlined key tasks, including stimulating consumption, improving investment efficiency, and boosting domestic demand. It also advocated for initiatives to increase incomes for low- and middle-income groups, promote large-scale equipment upgrades, and expand industries like the debut economy, ice and snow economy, and silver economy. The government was urged to support national strategies and increase investment in security capacity.
China was encouraged to drive scientific and technological innovation to build a modern industrial system, nurture future industries, and strengthen its strategic scientific capabilities. The conference also highlighted the need to address irrational competition, regulate local government and business behavior, and advance economic system reforms. It stressed expanding high-standard opening up, stabilizing foreign trade and investment, and managing risks in key sectors.
Moreover, efforts were called for to stabilize the real estate market, support new urbanization, modernize governance in large cities, and boost regional development. It also focused on accelerating the green transition, expanding energy bases, and establishing zero-carbon parks. The meeting emphasized improving people’s wellbeing, with policies for employment support, pro-childbirth measures, and expanded elderly care services.
Looking ahead, the conference called for an optimized approach to stable growth, employment, and price management, with attention to key areas like boosting domestic consumption. It also stressed effective policy coordination and making sound proposals for the 15th Five-Year Plan. The meeting was attended by key members of the CPC Standing Committee, and Li Qiang delivered the concluding speech, outlining the steps to implement Xi’s speech and ensure successful economic work in 2025.
