Photo taken on May 28, 2020 shows a view of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]
China's top leadership laid out priorities on Thursday for economic
policies in the second half of the year, pledging to make steadfast
efforts to expand domestic demand, protect and energize market players,
and bolster the stability and competitiveness of industry and supply
chains.
The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China
Central Committee also adopted a decision to hold the Fifth Plenary
Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee in October, which will
deliberate on the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and long-term
targets for 2035.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting.
Fiscal policies must be more proactive, pragmatic and meet the
funding requirements for the construction of major projects while giving
priority to quality and efficiency. Monetary policy should be tailored
in a way that is more flexible and appropriate, said a statement
released after the meeting.
While enabling a significant cut in financing costs across the board,
policymakers said the newly added financing must flow mainly to the
manufacturing sector and smaller firms.
The meeting also called for more coordinated macroeconomic policies
so that fiscal and monetary policies can function in integration with
policies in the fields of employment, industry and regional development.
Participants highlighted the better-than-expected performance of the
economy in the second quarter, which grew by 3.2 percent year-on-year
despite headwinds, noting that the economic recovery is on stable
footing and business reopenings are picking up month by month.
However, they also pointed to a complex and challenging economic
performance that is still grappling with instabilities and
uncertainties.
"Many of the problems we face are mid-and long-term, and they should
be seen from the perspective of a protracted war," read the statement.
The meeting reiterated the importance of accelerating the formation
of a new mode of development with domestic economic cycles being the
mainstay and domestic and international economic cycles complementing
each other.
A mid-and long-term coordination mechanism for epidemic containment
and socioeconomic development will be established, and the country will
rely more on innovation in science and technology and the optimizing of
cross-cycle design and adjustment in macro regulation to attain a
longterm balance between stabilizing growth and preventing risks, the
statement said.
The meeting pledged unrelenting measures in epidemic containment,
with steps to shore up reserves of medical resources and accelerate
international cooperation in this regard.
In expanding domestic demand, the country will give a further boost
to consumption and the upgrading of consumer spending while overcoming
the impact of COVID-19.
It is important to proactively scale up effective investment,
encourage the involvement of private capital and speed up the
construction of new infrastructure, the statement said.
The meeting reiterated that housing is for habitation, not
speculation, and said that the development of a more optimized
fundamental system for the capital market will be moved forward. It also
pledged to crack down on violations of the law in the securities
sector.
Effective measures will be adopted to reduce the impact of the
pandemic on youth employment, and more services will be offered to rural
migrant workers in the job market, the participants said.
In planning for China's development during the 14th Five-Year Plan
period, the meeting underlined the need to unwaveringly implement the
new development philosophy, coordinate development and security, and
modernize the governance system and capacities.
The new development philosophy should be implemented throughout all
sectors to attain more equitable, sustainable growth with higher
quality, improved efficiency and greater security, the statement said.
The country must remain committed to reform and opening-up and make
sustained efforts to beef up the momentum and vitality of its growth, it
added.
The meeting followed a symposium in Beijing on Tuesday convened by
the CPC Central Committee to solicit opinions from non-Party members on
economic performance and work for the second half of the year.
While chairing the symposium, Xi underscored that the current
economic performance must be put in the right perspective, and greater
strides must be made in the comprehensive deepening of reform to solve
the various risks in the course of development and reduce risks,
challenges and pressure from various fronts.
China has strong resolve, a firm will and robust national strength to
respond to challenges, and it possesses adequate confidence,
capabilities and wisdom to overcome various risks and tests, he said.
No country or individual can stand in the way of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, he said.
With epidemic containment in a stable situation and economic
performance restored, the country must ride on this momentum in the next
two quarters, consolidate outcomes on these two fronts and make up for
the losses in the first half of the year, he said.