BEIJING, Aug. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.
The tone-setting meeting, taking place on the heels of the third
plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee in mid-July,
carries double ramifications, as it will implement sweeping reform
measures outlined by the third plenary session, while also charting
a clear economic development path for the second half of 2024 amid
rising pressures, observers said.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee,
presided over the meeting of the committee's Political Bureau.
The remarks are very "positive and encouraging," as they mirror
the CPC leadership's firm resolution to pursue a high-quality
development path and sufficient macroeconomic policy maneuvers to
enable the country to overcome potential economic headwinds,
Chinese and foreign scholars said.
The CPC Central Committee has held a symposium with non-CPC
personages to seek opinions and suggestions on the country's
current economic situation and economic work for the second half of
the year, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Xi presided over the
symposium and delivered an important speech on July 26.
The policy focuses laid out by the recent gatherings have
rallied broad confidence on the growth prospects for the world's
second-largest economy, with some foreign economists lauding that
the measures will ensure the continued success of China's economic miracle in the years to come
and offer a sense of continuity and certainty to a world that is
growing more complex and volatile.
Scholars noted that China's
economic plans could encourage other Global South countries to
follow an independent development path, which in many ways could
facilitate the developing countries to "leapfrog to more advanced
levels."
Tone-setting meeting
According to the meeting, the tasks of reform, development and
stability in the second half of the year are very important, and it
is necessary to fully implement the spirit of the 20th National
Congress of the CPC and the spirit of the second and third
plenums.
It acknowledged the downsides of the economy, including more
adverse impacts from changes in the external environment, and that
effective domestic demand remains insufficient. There are still
risks and potential dangers in major sectors, as well as challenges
resulting from the replacement of traditional growth drivers with
new ones.
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, to be prepared to deal with
worst-case scenarios, and maintain strategic resolve and confidence
in the country's development.
The 20th Central Committee of the CPC adopted a resolution on
further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese
modernization at its third plenary session. The resolution, with
economic structural reform as the spearhead, includes more than 300
important reform measures, all of which involve reforms across
systems, mechanisms and institutions.
Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the Digital-Real Economies
Integration Forum 50, told the Global Times that the key meeting
"organically" integrates the implementation of medium- and
long-term goals with this year's economic development targets.
"It is a continuance of the spirit of the 'third plenum,' which
lays out reform objectives to be completed by 2029. Meanwhile, the
meeting breaks down long-term goals into pragmatic, phased and
targeted policy priorities that could be carried out this year.
Those measures could then be assigned to individual departments for
further execution," Li Chang'an, a
professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the
University of International Business and Economics, told the Global
Times.
In line with the tradition, this key meeting is usually held at
midyear, when the CPC leadership will update its assessment of
economic conditions and fine-tune economic development plans to
guarantee that the objectives listed in the annual Government Work
Report will be delivered on time.
Analysts stressed that the convenings of the series of
tone-setting meetings, which lay out both short-term and long-term
policy frameworks, play a pivotal role in stabilizing social
expectations and bolstering confidence in China's growth outlook at home and abroad.
China's GDP expanded 5 percent
year-on-year in the first half of 2024, meeting the annual growth
target of around 5 percent.
However, analysts pointed out that growth could be contending
with more headwinds in the second half. "This means Chinese
authorities need to pour more efforts into navigating these
uncharted waters. The multiple signals sent out by the recent
meetings indicate that the CPC leadership has clearly demonstrated
its firm commitment to advancing reforms and policymaking
capacities to promote high-quality growth," Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in
Beijing, told the Global
Times.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of
Germany-based political and
economic think tank the Schiller Institute, told the Global Times
that the economic development blueprint put forward by the CPC
leadership has laid the foundation for China's increased productivity and
technological breakthroughs. She voiced strong optimism that the
world's second-largest economy will sustain its recovery momentum
this year, channeling a sense of continuity and certainty to the
Global South.
Policy priorities
Investors have been keenly gauging how the epoch-making meeting
will provide policy clues for the second half of 2024. According to
them, the wording of the meeting sends a very "positive signal"
that the country has an abundant policy toolkit to sustain a
recovery trajectory that will hit the annual GDP target.
The meeting stressed that macroeconomic policies should remain
forceful, while "being implemented more effectively." It also
highlighted the necessity to strengthen counter-cyclical
adjustments, implement proactive fiscal policies and prudent
monetary policies effectively, accelerate the comprehensive
implementation of existing policy measures, and promptly prepare
and introduce a series of incremental policy measures as
needed.
A number of major Chinese banks have already cut deposit
interest rates since last week, the first of its kind this year
that is expected to inject more liquidity into the market.
Tian said that the strength of fiscal and monetary policy
support will step up in the second half, and the likelihood of a
reduction in the required reserve ratio is "quite high," which will
be beneficial to releasing more funds to support the real
economy.
In May, China started issuing
the first batch of 1 trillion yuan
($140 billion) in ultra-long-term
treasury bonds. Six batches of bond issuances were completed in the
first half, according to Chinese analysts' calculation. Tian
suggested that finance authorities accelerate the issuances in the
second half, further buttressing the momentum of economic
recovery.
Another important takeaway from the meeting centered on shoring
up the potential of domestic demand, as recovery on the demand side
remains lopsided and Chinese consumers' willingness to spend is
still flat.
The meeting emphasized that China should expand domestic demand with a
focus on boosting consumption. To expand domestic demand with a
focus on boosting consumption, economic policies should shift more
toward benefiting people's livelihoods and promoting
consumption.
"As the external situation becomes more volatile, the role of
domestic consumption will be more prominent this year. It will
serve as a stabilizer to cushion against global fluctuations," Li
said.
Zepp-LaRouche said that she was impressed by the
innovation-driven strategy China
put forward through the conferences, which puts the development and
expansion of emerging industries and future industries at the core.
She suggested all countries across the Global South apply the
principle of continued innovation in the same vein as China, so they "don't have to repeat a
prolonged process of industrialization."
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-times-cpc-leadership-sets-out-economic-priorities-for-h2-2024-302216829.html
SOURCE Global Times