China’s State Planner Outlines Macro-Economic Focal Points for 2022

China’s top planning authority has outlined its key focal points for economic policy in 2022.

Yuan Da (袁达), a senior official from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that China will continue to face major economic challenges in 2022, despite posting 8.1% GDP growth in 2021.

“At present the external environment for China is trending even more towards complexity, challenge and uncertainty,” said Yuan at press conference held on 18 January.

“Domestic development faces the three pressures of demand contraction that has not been seen for many years; supply shocks and weakening expectations…economic development in 2022 faces considerable pressure.”

In order to ensure that the Chinese economy remains within a “rational range” in 2022, Yuan said that the country’s macro-economic adjustments would focus in particular upon three areas:

1. Focusing on stability as the watchword. Macro-policy must be stable and effective. Maintaining the continuity, stability and sustainability of macro-policy and raising foresight, targetedness and effectiveness. Effectively grasping the rhythm, vigour and focus of policy, and striving to stabilise the overall macro-economy.
2. Strengthening overall policy coordination, and forming a collective force for the stabilisation of growth. Strengthening the overall coordination of last year and the current year; strengthening overall inter-departmental coordination; strengthening coordination and linkages between fiscal, monetary and employment policy with industrial, investment, consumption, regional, environmental and reform policy. Effectively dovetailing economic policy with non-economic policy. Effectively performing assessment and analysis prior to the unveiling of each policy. Policies which are of benefit to economic stability must be actively advanced, and policies which have contraction effects must be released with caution.
3. Policy must be appropriately forward leaning, with a focus on a stable economic opening. Tightly grasp the release and implementation of a series of policies and measures for the strategy of expanding domestic demand. Promptly researching and proposing targeted measures for invigorating industrial operation. Appropriately undertaking infrastructure investment in advance; applying local government special bonds issued in the fourth quarter of last year to specific projects as soon as possible, and striving to creating even more real goods work volume in the first quarter.