The Central Economic Work Conference Held in Beijing; Xi Jinping Delivers Important Speech

The Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 10 to 11. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the conference and delivered an important speech. Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended the conference.

In a significant address, Xi Jinping summarized the economic work of 2025, analyzed the current economic situation, and outlined the priorities for 2026. Li Qiang delivered a concluding speech, setting forth requirements for thoroughly implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important address and for effectively carrying out next year’s economic work.
The meeting noted that this year has been an extraordinary one. Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the whole Party and all ethnic groups across the country have risen to challenges and striven with determination, unswervingly implemented the new development philosophy and promoted high-quality development, coordinated domestic and international contexts, and adopted more proactive and effective macro policies. As a result, the major goals for economic and social development are set to be smoothly achieved. China’s economy has pressed ahead amid headwinds, moving toward new and higher-quality growth; the building of a modern industrial system has continued to advance; reform and opening up have taken new steps; positive progress has been made in defusing risks in key areas; and efforts to safeguard people’s livelihoods have been strengthened. Over the past five years, we have effectively responded to various shocks and challenges, propelling the cause of the Party and the country to new major achievements. The 14th Five-Year Plan is about to draw to a successful close, and the new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal has gotten off to a good start.
The meeting concluded that, through practical experience, we have gained new insights and understanding on how to effectively carry out economic work under the new circumstances: we must fully tap into the economy’s potential; we must simultaneously uphold policy support and pursue reform and innovation; we must strike a balance between granting greater flexibility and ensuring effective regulation; we must closely integrate investment in physical capital with investment in human capital; and we must strengthen our internal capabilities through rigorous self-improvement in order to meet external challenges.
The meeting noted that China’s economic development continues to face numerous longstanding issues and emerging challenges, with the impact of a changing external environment deepening, pronounced domestic supply-demand imbalances, and significant risks and vulnerabilities in key areas. Most of these are problems inherent in the course of development and structural transformation, which can be addressed through concerted efforts; moreover, the underlying conditions and fundamental trends that support the long-term positive trajectory of the Chinese economy remain unchanged. It is imperative to maintain firm confidence, leverage our strengths, effectively address challenges, and continuously consolidate and expand the momentum of steady and improving economic performance.
The meeting emphasized that, in order to deliver strong economic performance next year, we must be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, fully, accurately, and comprehensively apply the new development philosophy, accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern, focus on promoting high-quality development, adhere to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, better coordinate domestic economic work with international economic and trade struggles, better balance development and security, implement more proactive and effective macro policies, enhance the forward-looking nature, targeted approach, and synergy of these policies, continuously expand domestic demand and optimize supply, improve new growth drivers while making better use of existing assets, develop new productive forces tailored to local conditions, deepen the construction of a unified national market, continuously guard against and defuse risks in key areas, focus on stabilizing employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations, promote both qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth of the economy, maintain social harmony and stability, and ensure a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
The meeting pointed out that, in terms of policy orientation for next year’s economic work, we must uphold the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability and focus on improving quality and efficiency; leverage the synergistic effects of both existing and new policies; strengthen counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments; and enhance the effectiveness of macroeconomic governance. We will continue to implement a more proactive fiscal policy, maintaining an appropriate level of fiscal deficit, overall debt, and total expenditure, while strengthening scientific fiscal management, optimizing the structure of fiscal spending, and standardizing tax incentives and fiscal subsidy policies. Particular attention will be paid to addressing local fiscal difficulties and ensuring that the “three guarantees” at the grassroots level are fully met. Fiscal and financial discipline must be strictly enforced, and Party and government organs must practice strict economy. We will also continue to implement a moderately accommodative monetary policy, making the promotion of stable economic growth and a reasonable rebound in prices key considerations. We will flexibly and efficiently employ a variety of policy tools, including reductions in the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates, to maintain ample liquidity, ensure smooth transmission of monetary policy, and guide financial institutions to step up support for key areas such as expanding domestic demand, technological innovation, and small, medium, and micro enterprises. The RMB exchange rate will be kept broadly stable at an appropriate and balanced level. Finally, we will enhance the consistency and effectiveness of macroeconomic policy orientation by incorporating all types of economic and non-economic policies, as well as existing and new policies, into a comprehensive assessment of policy coherence. We will also improve the mechanism for managing expectations and bolster public confidence.
The meeting decided to focus on the following key tasks in next year’s economic work.
First, we will uphold domestic demand as the main driver and build a robust domestic market. We will thoroughly implement special initiatives to boost consumption and formulate and carry out plans to increase the incomes of both urban and rural residents. We will expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, optimize the implementation of the “Two New” policies, eliminate unreasonable restrictions in the consumer sector, and unlock the potential of service consumption. We will work to halt the decline and stabilize investment by appropriately increasing the scale of central budgetary investment, optimizing the implementation of “Two Major” projects, improving the management of the use of local government special bonds, continuing to leverage new policy-based financial instruments, and effectively stimulating private investment. We will also advance urban renewal with high quality.
Second, we will steadfastly pursue innovation-driven development and accelerate the cultivation and expansion of new growth drivers. We will formulate an integrated plan to advance the development of education, science and technology, and talent. We will build international centers for scientific and technological innovation in Beijing (the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region), Shanghai (the Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. We will strengthen the leading role of enterprises in innovation and improve the intellectual property protection system in emerging fields. We will develop an action plan to expand the capacity and enhance the quality of the service sector. We will launch a new round of initiatives to promote high-quality development of key industrial chains. We will deepen and broaden the application of “Artificial Intelligence Plus” and improve AI governance. We will innovate financial services for science and technology.
Third, we will steadfastly advance reform with a focus on tackling tough challenges and bolstering the momentum and vitality of high-quality development. We will formulate regulations for building a unified national market and rigorously address “involutionary” competition. We will develop and implement a plan to further deepen state-owned asset and state-owned enterprise reform, and refine supporting laws and policies for the Law on Promoting the Private Economy. We will expedite the settlement of outstanding payments owed to enterprises. We will promote win-win development among platform enterprises, operators on platforms, and workers. We will expand pilot programs for market-based allocation of production factors. We will improve the local tax system. We will deepen efforts to reduce the number of small and medium-sized financial institutions while enhancing their quality, and continue to deepen comprehensive reforms of capital market financing and investment.
Fourth, we will steadfastly pursue opening-up and promote win-win cooperation across multiple sectors. We will steadily advance institutional opening-up, systematically expand autonomous market access in the services sector, optimize the spatial layout of free trade pilot zones, and make solid progress in building the Hainan Free Trade Port. We will promote the integrated development of trade and investment as well as the integration of domestic and foreign trade. We will encourage and support service exports and vigorously develop digital trade and green trade. We will deepen reforms of the systems and mechanisms for promoting foreign investment and improve the comprehensive overseas service system. We will advance high-quality joint efforts to build the Belt and Road Initiative and work to conclude more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements.
Fifth, we will uphold coordinated development and promote urban–rural integration and regional synergy. We will coordinate and advance urbanization centered on county towns and the all-round revitalization of rural areas, and drive high-quality economic development at the county level. We will strictly safeguard the red line for arable land, maintain unwavering efforts to ensure adequate grain production, and keep prices of grain and other important agricultural products at reasonable levels. We will continue to consolidate and expand the achievements made in poverty alleviation, integrate routine assistance into the overall implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, and firmly prevent large-scale relapse into or onset of poverty. We will support major economic provinces in playing a leading role. We will strengthen coordination and collaboration among key city clusters and deepen cooperation across administrative boundaries. We will enhance comprehensive planning for major bays and promote the high-quality development of the marine economy.
Sixth, we will uphold the “dual carbon” goals as our guiding principle and promote a comprehensive green transition. We will deepen energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades in key industries, formulate a master plan for building a powerful energy nation, accelerate the development of a new energy system, and expand the application of green electricity. We will strengthen the construction of the national carbon emissions trading market, implement a comprehensive action plan for the integrated management of solid waste, wage tough battles to protect blue skies, clear waters, and clean soil, and reinforce the control of emerging pollutants. We will make solid progress in the critical campaign to advance the “Three North” Project and carry out the integration and optimization of nature reserves. We will enhance the meteorological monitoring, forecasting, and early-warning systems, expedite efforts to address infrastructure gaps in flood prevention, drainage, and disaster resilience in northern regions, and improve our capacity to respond to extreme weather events.
Seventh, we will put people’s wellbeing first and strive to deliver more concrete benefits to the general public. We will implement initiatives to stabilize employment, expand job opportunities, and improve job quality; ensure stable employment for key groups such as college graduates and rural migrant workers; and encourage and support those in flexible employment and new forms of employment to participate in employee social insurance. We will advance the restructuring of the allocation and layout of educational resources, increase the supply of regular high school places, and expand enrollment of high-quality undergraduate programs at universities. We will optimize centralized drug procurement and deepen reforms of medical insurance payment methods. We will carry out projects to expand and upgrade rehabilitation and nursing services, introduce a long-term care insurance system, and strengthen care and assistance for vulnerable groups. We will promote a positive attitude toward marriage and childbearing and work to maintain the size of the newborn population. We will also ensure solid progress in workplace safety, disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief, as well as food and drug safety.
Eighth, we will steadfastly uphold the bottom line and proactively yet prudently defuse risks in key areas. We will focus on stabilizing the real estate market by adopting city-specific policies to cap new supply, reduce inventory, and improve supply quality, while encouraging the acquisition of existing commercial housing for use primarily as affordable housing. We will deepen reform of the housing provident fund system and steadily advance the development of “good-quality housing.” We will accelerate the establishment of a new model for real estate development. We will actively and orderly mitigate local government debt risks by urging all localities to take proactive measures to reduce debt and strictly prohibiting the illegal addition of implicit debt. We will refine mechanisms for debt restructuring and refinancing and adopt a range of measures to address the operational debt risks of local government financing platforms.
The meeting emphasized the need to consciously align our thinking and actions with the Party Central Committee’s scientific assessment of the situation, to grasp the overarching trends in China’s development, and to remain firmly confident in future progress. We must comprehensively implement the general requirements and policy orientations for next year’s economic work, adhere to a goal-oriented approach that is proactive and pragmatic, focus on resolving existing difficulties and challenges, achieve greater breakthroughs in enhancing quality and effectiveness, and strengthen the sense of gain among both residents and enterprises. We should also enhance the synergy between reform and policy measures to sustain positive momentum in economic performance and market expectations. In doing so, we must identify the key priorities for next year’s economic work within the broader national context: strengthening the domestic circulation as the mainstay while opening up new avenues for expanding domestic demand; fostering new-quality productive forces by promoting deep integration between technological innovation and industrial innovation; unswervingly deepening reform and further opening up to stimulate the momentum and vitality of high-quality development; intensifying efforts to safeguard and improve people’s livelihoods; and prudently managing risks in key areas while steadfastly upholding the safety bottom line.
The meeting emphasized the need to strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over economic work and to forge a unified will and strong synergy. It is essential to uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, while ensuring that all regions and departments, in light of their specific conditions and local circumstances, fully implement the Party Central Committee’s guiding principles, tasks, and policies for next year’s economic work. We must cultivate and practice a correct view of political achievements, commit ourselves to delivering results that benefit the people through hard work and practical action, consciously act in accordance with objective laws, and refine a differentiated system of performance assessment and evaluation. In line with the Proposals adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, we should formulate the national and local 15th Five-Year Plans as well as sector-specific plans, so as to promote high-quality, sustainable development. Moreover, we must foster a favorable political, talent, business, and public-opinion environment, intensify publicity and interpretation of policies, and fully unleash positive social energy.
The meeting called for robust efforts to ensure the stable supply of essential livelihood goods at the turn of the year, show concern for the production and daily lives of vulnerable groups, and firmly prevent and curb the occurrence of serious and extremely serious accidents.
The meeting called on the entire Party and all sectors of society to rally even more closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, to unite as one and forge ahead with determination, to strive to achieve next year’s economic and social development goals and tasks, and to ensure a strong start and solid foundation for the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, relevant leading comrades of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, State Councilors, the President of the Supreme People’s Court, the Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, relevant leading comrades of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and members of the Central Military Commission attended the meeting.
Leading officials of the Party and government from all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, cities separately listed for planning purposes, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as well as leading officials from relevant departments of central and state organs, related people’s organizations, certain financial institutions and enterprises under central management, and all departments of the Central Military Commission, attended the meeting.