The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Held a Meeting to Analyze and Study the Current Economic Situation and Economic Work, with Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Presiding over the Meeting.

On April 25, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to analyze and study the current economic situation and economic work. The meeting was chaired by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

The meeting concluded that, since the beginning of this year, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has strengthened its overall leadership over economic work; all regions and departments have pooled their efforts to tackle tough challenges; and various macro policies have been coordinated and exerted their combined force, resulting in an improving economic outlook, sustained bolstering of public confidence, solid progress in high-quality development, and overall social stability. At the same time, the foundation for the continued recovery and improvement of China’s economy still needs to be further consolidated, as the impact of external shocks continues to grow. It is imperative to strengthen bottom-line thinking, make thorough contingency plans, and ensure that economic work is carried out in a solid and effective manner.

The meeting emphasized the need to uphold the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern, coordinate domestic economic work with international economic and trade struggles, unswervingly focus on doing our own affairs well, unswervingly expand high-standard opening-up, and concentrate on stabilizing employment, businesses, markets, and market expectations, so as to use the certainty of high-quality development to address the uncertainty arising from rapid changes in the external environment.

The meeting emphasized the need to accelerate the implementation of a more proactive and effective macro policy, making full and effective use of a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately accommodative monetary policy. It called for speeding up the issuance and utilization of special local government bonds and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, while ensuring that the “three guarantees” at the grassroots level are firmly safeguarded. The meeting also urged timely reductions in the reserve requirement ratio and interest rates to maintain ample liquidity and strengthen support for the real economy. Furthermore, it proposed the creation of new structural monetary policy tools and the establishment of innovative policy-based financial instruments to support technological innovation, expand consumption, and stabilize foreign trade. Finally, the meeting stressed the importance of ensuring consistency in policy orientation.

The meeting emphasized the need to increase the incomes of middle- and low-income groups, vigorously develop service consumption, and strengthen the role of consumption in driving economic growth. It called for the prompt removal of restrictive measures in the consumer sector, the establishment of special re-lending facilities for service consumption and elderly care, increased financial support, broader and higher-quality implementation of the “Two New” policies, and intensified efforts to advance the “Two Heavy” projects.

The meeting emphasized the need to adopt a multi-pronged approach to assist struggling enterprises, strengthen financing support, accelerate the integration of domestic and foreign trade, foster and expand new drivers of productivity, and develop a number of emerging pillar industries. It also called for sustained efforts to tackle critical core technologies, innovatively launch a “Science and Technology Board” in the bond market, and expedite the implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence Plus” initiative. Furthermore, the meeting urged vigorous promotion of quality improvement and upgrading in key industries, adherence to standards-led development, and the standardization of competitive order.

The meeting emphasized the need to consistently address development challenges by deepening reform and opening-up. It called for accelerating the development of a unified national market and rigorously carrying out special campaigns to standardize law enforcement involving enterprises. Efforts should be intensified to implement pilot policies for opening up the service sector and to enhance support for Chinese enterprises “going global.” In concert with the international community, we must actively uphold multilateralism and oppose unilateral bullying.

The meeting emphasized the need to maintain sustained efforts to prevent and defuse risks in key areas. It called for the continued implementation of the comprehensive debt-reduction policy for local governments and for accelerating the resolution of outstanding payments owed by local governments to enterprises. Efforts should be intensified to advance urban renewal initiatives, with vigorous and orderly progress in the renovation of village-in-city areas and dilapidated and dangerous housing. The development of a new model for the real estate sector should be expedited, with increased supply of high-quality housing, optimized policies for the acquisition of existing commercial housing stock, and ongoing consolidation of stability in the real estate market. Finally, the capital market should be kept stable and vibrant.

The meeting emphasized the need to prioritize safeguarding people’s livelihoods. For enterprises significantly affected by tariffs, the reimbursement rate under the unemployment insurance fund for stabilizing employment will be increased. A tiered and categorized social assistance system will be improved. Agricultural production will be strengthened, and prices of staple foods and other key agricultural products will be kept stable. Progress in poverty alleviation will be consolidated and expanded, with effective alignment to rural revitalization. Work related to workplace safety, disaster prevention, and mitigation will continue to be carried out diligently.

The meeting emphasized the need to continuously refine the policy toolkit for ensuring stable employment and a stable economy: promptly implement already-announced policies to deliver early results; swiftly introduce additional reserve policies in response to evolving circumstances; strengthen unconventional counter-cyclical adjustments; and make all-out efforts to consolidate the fundamental foundations of economic development and social stability.

The meeting emphasized the need to strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over economic work, encourage Party members and cadres to rise to challenges and take proactive action, and foster and practice a correct view of political achievements. It also called for earnestly conducting study and education on thoroughly implementing the spirit of the CPC Central Committee’s Eight-Point Decision on Improving Conduct, so as to usher in a new phase of high-quality development through new successes in style-of-work building.

The meeting also reviewed other matters.