Chinese President Xi Jinping has outlined a slew of key economic policy goals at a study session of the Politburo held on 31 January, including spurring domestic demand, achieving technological independence, deepening reform and effectively guiding capital.
At the study session, Xi called for “accelerating the creation of new development conditions…shoring up the foundations for China’s economic development, strengthening the security and stability of development and thus being able to strengthen China’s ability to survive, compete, develop and endure in all foreseeable and unforeseeable storms.”
During a speech delivered at the study session, Xi outlined a range of policy emphases for the upcoming year, including:
Domestic demand
“We must do an effective job in coordinating the expansion of domestic demand and deepening supply-side structural reforms, forming a higher level of dynamic balance in which demand drives supply and supply creates demand, and achieving a virtuous cycle of the national economy. We must resolutely implement the outline of the strategic plan for expanding domestic demand, form a complete domestic demand system as soon as possible, and focus on expanding consumption demand supported by income, investment demand with reasonable returns, alongside financial demand constrained by principal and debt.
“We must establish and improve long-term mechanisms for expanding household consumption, so that household have the stable income to consume, dare to consume without concern, and have a good consumption environment with a strong sense of benefit and strong willingness to consume.”
Investment and supply-side structural reforms
“We must improve and expand the investment mechanism, expand effective investment space, moderately advance the deployment of new infrastructure construction, expand investment in high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries, and continue to stimulate the vitality of private investment. We must continue to deepen supply-side structural reforms, continue to promote technological innovation and system innovation, break through supply constraints, bottlenecks, and vulnerabilities; enhance the competitiveness and security of the industry chains and supply chains, and adapt to circumstances with independent, controllable, and high-quality supply. We must improve existing demand and create new ones.”
Removing dependence on foreign technology
“We must accelerate the pace of self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology, and solve the problem of foreign countries exercising ‘choke points.’ We must improve the new national system, strengthen national strategic scientific and technological strength, optimize the allocation of innovative resources, make China a global leader in important scientific and technological fields and a pioneer in cutting-edge cross-fields, and strive to become the world’s major scientific center and innovation highland as soon as possible.
“We must achieve effective linkage of the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country with talents, and the strategy of innovation-driven development, and adhere to the integrated promotion of educational development, technological innovation, and talent cultivation to form a virtuous circle.
“We must adhere to the integrated design of original innovation, integrated innovation, and open innovation to achieve effective integration, as well as uphold measures for the integration of innovation chains, industry chains, and talent chains and drive deeper integration.
Rural and regional development
“We must comprehensively promote the coordinated development of urban and rural areas and regions, and increase the coverage area of the domestic cycle. We must full play to the vital role of the countryside as a market for consumption and factors market; comprehensively promote rural revitalization, promote urbanization with counties as important carriers, promote urban-rural integration, strengthen urban-rural economic ties, and smooth the urban-rural economic cycle.
“We must prevent localities from engaging in small self-circulation, remove regional barriers, and truly form a unified national market. We must promote the in-depth integration of regional coordinated development strategies, major regional strategies, and main functional zone strategies; optimize the arrangements for major productive forces, promote rational flows and efficient concentration of various elements, and smooth the domestic cycle.”
Deepening reform and opening
“We must further deepen reform and opening, and enhance the power and vitality of the domestic and foreign cycles. We must deepen the market-oriented reform of factors, build a high-standard market system, and accelerate the development of a unified national market.
“We must improve the basic systems of the market economy such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit, strengthen anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition, regulate and guide the healthy development of capital in accordance with the law, create a good environment for various types of business entities to invest and start businesses, and stimulate the vitality of various business entities.
“We must promote high-level opening up to the outside world, steadily promote institutional opening up of rules, regulations, management, and standards, and strengthen the right to speak in major, international cycles.
“We must promote the high-quality development of the joint construction of the Belt and Road initiative; actively participate in the negotiation of international economic and trade rules, promote the formation of an open, diversified and stable world economic order, and create conditions for achieving linkage and circulation of domestic and international markets and resources.”
