CPC leadership sets out economic priorities for 2nd half of 2024

The Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership held a meeting on July 30 to analyze the current economic situation and set out priorities for the second half of this year.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting of the committee’s Political Bureau.

The country’s economy has been generally stable and made progress since the start of this year, according to an official statement released after the meeting.

The country has sustained the momentum of economic recovery and moved faster to foster new growth drivers and competitive edges, the statement said.

China’s GDP expanded 5 percent year on year in the first half of 2024.

Currently, the country faces more adverse impacts from changes in external environment, and effective domestic demand remains insufficient. There are still various risks and potential dangers in major sectors, as well as challenges resulting from the replacement of traditional growth drivers with new ones, it said. However, it noted that those are all issues in the course of development and transformation.

The meeting called for efforts to raise the awareness of risks, be prepared to deal with worst-case scenarios, and maintain strategic resolve and confidence in the country’s development.

Noting that tasks of reform and development and maintaining stability in the second half of the year are arduous, the meeting underscored the importance of pursuing progress while ensuring stability. It called for efforts to foster new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, strengthen macro regulation and tap the potential of domestic demand, among other endeavors.

Steadfast efforts must be made to accomplish the goals for this year’s economic and social development, the meeting said.

China has set its annual GDP growth target for 2024 at around 5 percent.

Reform should serve as the driving force in promoting steady growth, making structural adjustments and guarding against risks, the meeting noted. A number of reform measures that are ready, tangible and attainable should be adopted in a timely manner, it said.

Work should be done to refine the systems underpinning the market economy, such as those related to property rights protection, market access, and enterprise bankruptcy and market exit, according to the meeting.

Macroeconomic policies should be more effective, it said. Efforts should be made to strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments, accelerate the issuance and usage of special bonds, and promote large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-ins of bulk durable consumer goods.

The country should make full use of multiple monetary policy tools, strengthen financial support for the real economy, and enhance the consistency of macro policy orientation.

Domestic demand should be expanded with a focus on boosting consumption, and economic policies should center on improving people’s livelihoods and promoting consumption, the meeting said, highlighting service consumption in the expansion and upgrading of consumption.

The meeting called for strong and effective support for gazelle companies and unicorn firms. It urged industries to strengthen self-discipline to prevent rat race and irrational competition.

The market mechanism of “survival of the fittest” should be strengthened and exit channels for backward or inefficient production capacities should remain unclogged.

The meeting also urged work to expand China’s institutional opening up, with a new round of trial measures rolled out to further open up the country’s service industry. Trade in intermediate goods and green trade should also be expanded.

To promote the stable and sound development of the country’s property market, the meeting urged active support for the purchase of commodity housing inventory to be used as affordable housing. It also stressed accelerating the defusing of debt risks facing local financing platforms.

The country should strive to boost investor confidence and the stability of the capital market. Work should also be done to see that rural people do not return to poverty in large numbers, and secure bumper grain harvest for the whole year, according to the meeting.

The meeting emphasized greater efforts to ensure and improve people’s well-being and implement the employment-first policy to help college graduates and other key groups find jobs.

It urged all-out efforts to fight floods and improve disaster relief, and called for ensuring energy and power supplies to meet surging demand during the summer.

Research and planning work for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) should be intensified, according to the meeting.

Noting that pointless formalities and bureaucratism remain deep-seated problems, the meeting urged vigorous and resolute efforts to rectify such conduct.

The meeting underscored the importance of strictly complying with the central Party leadership’s eight-point decision on improving work conduct and the detailed rules for its implementation.

Targeting “pointless formalities at the fingertips,” the meeting also called for enhancing the regulation of mobile apps for government services.