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