PR99334

BEIJING, Dec. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Battered by domestic challenges and disruptive external headwinds, the Chinese

economy has coped with a tough 2022 with a GDP growth rate of three percent in

the first three quarters.

The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December

15 to 16 as Chinese leaders decided on the priorities for the economic work in

2023.

Delivering an important speech at the conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping

reviewed the country's economic work in 2022, analyzed the current economic

situation and arranged next year's economic work.

Currently, the foundation of economic recovery is not yet stabilized, and China

is still facing three-fold pressure on contracting demand, supply shocks and

weak expectations, the meeting pointed out in a statement.

"However, we should see that our economy has strong resilience, great potential

and robust vitality," the meeting noted, calling for firm confidence in

economic work and vowing major efforts to ensure high-quality, reasonable

growth.

Ensuring stability a priority

The meeting demanded making economic stability a top priority and pursuing

steady progress while ensuring economic stability for the next year.

For an economy of China's size, it is vital to maintain a stable economic

performance. Efforts will be made to stabilize growth, employment and prices so

that major economic indicators will stay within an appropriate range, the

meeting stressed.

The meeting also noted better coordinating epidemic prevention and control with

economic and social development, urging efforts to optimize epidemic response

based on time and situation, and focus on the elderly and those with underlying

diseases.

Mentioning the country has rolled out a policy mix to sustain economic growth

earlier this year, Zhang Junwei, a research fellow of the Development Research

Center of the State Council, believes the country will devote greater efforts

to stabilizing growth, employment and prices.

The meeting further highlighted the determination of the Chinese leaders to

regard the issue of restoring economic aggregates balance as the primary task

of the current economic operation.

Domestic demand expansion

The country will focus on boosting domestic demand next year by prioritizing

the recovery and expansion of consumption, increasing urban and rural personal

income through multiple channels and encouraging more private capital to

participate in the construction of key national projects, said the meeting.

The potential of the domestic market will also be fully tapped so that domestic

demand can play a stronger role in driving economic growth, the meeting said,

vowing support for organic demand and upgrading needs on housing as well as

support for the private sector and digital economy platforms.

China has released a guideline on expanding domestic demand and fostering a

sound domestic demand system to promote its long-term development.

Efforts will be made to facilitate consumption on all fronts and accelerate the

upgrading of consumption quality, optimize the investment structure and expand

the scope of investment, while promoting the coordinated development of urban

and rural areas to release the potential of domestic demand, according to the

guideline.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's November retail

sales sank by 5.9 percent year on year, showing a decline trend in domestic

demand.

Cai Tongjuan, a researcher at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies under

Renmin University of China stressed that the construction of a resilient

domestic market is very critical. "Without demand, the domestic market is the

water without a source."

In terms of increasing personal income, Cai stressed it is important to avoid

talking about consumption in isolation from income. She added residents' income

has declined with their consumption demand in a short after three years of

fighting the epidemic, and only by effectively raising residents' disposable

income can consumption be effectively promoted.

High-quality development

The two-day tone-setting conference also emphasized on pursing high-quality

development.

Apart from better coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic

and social development, the meeting said stronger coordination should also be

achieved. This should happen between qualitative and quantitative growth,

between supply-side structural reform and domestic demand expansion, and

between economic policies and other policies, the meeting said.

To foster a new development paradigm, the endogenous dynamics and reliability

of domestic circulation should be strengthened, while the quality of

international circulation should be elevated.

The meeting also stressed the need to handle current work well and at the same

time take future development into consideration.

The key to measuring economic development is whether economic growth can bring

more absolute and higher quality development, Chen Wenling, chief economist of

the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, pointed out.

Wang Jun, director of the China Chief Economists Forum, said the deployment of

the Central Economic Work Conference continues to put "quality" in front of

"quantity," which means grasping the quality of the economy is the main

direction of the future.

Link:https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-16/China-holds-key-economic-meeting-to-p

lan-for-2023-1fOwyYJjt5u/index.html

SOURCE:CGTN