BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese leaders pledged on Thursday to modernise the country’s industrial complex, boost domestic demand, curb debt and risks to the real estate sector and implement financial and fiscal reforms, state media reported after a key Communist Party meeting.
The official Xinhua news agency also reported in its report on the meeting, which takes place about every five years, that Beijing wants to improve social security, health care and income distribution and carry out land reforms.
The report said China will “strengthen the role of market mechanisms in the economy, create a fairer and more dynamic market environment, and optimize the efficiency of resource allocation.”
In the past, official documents stated that markets play a “decisive role” in the economy.
“Market restrictions are being lifted, while effective regulation is being put in place to better maintain market order and address market failures,” the report said.
The meeting did not specify what changes would be implemented, but it did say the “tasks” should be completed by 2029 at the latest.
A document with more detailed policy plans presented during the four-day closed-door meeting of members of the Communist Party Central Committee led by President Xi Jinping is expected to be published in the coming days.
State media had already billed the event, known as a plenum, as a “groundbreaking event,” coming at a time when Chinese were increasingly struggling financially at home and opposition to the country’s industrial policies was growing abroad.
The communiqué reemphasized China’s pursuit of “new productive forces,” a term coined by Xi last year that refers to scientific research and technological breakthroughs that could modernize manufacturing and usher in a new era of high growth.
“We will improve institutions and mechanisms to promote new, high-quality productive forces, in accordance with local conditions,” the report said.
The world’s second-largest economy grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter, as the economy relied heavily on industrial production and external demand, while the crisis-hit real estate sector and household consumption continued to disappoint.
China promised at a similar plenum more than a decade ago to fix the growing imbalance between high levels of investment and output and tepid demand. But instead of sending funds to consumers, it poured money into infrastructure and real estate, building up debt at an unsustainable pace.
Thursday’s communiqué reiterated that China aims to “actively expand domestic demand.”
(Reporting by the Beijing newsroom. Editing by Peter Graff and Susan Fenton)
