Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) — Xi Jinping called for anchoring economic growth around domestic demand as its “main driver” in a speech delivered by the Chinese president at a key policy meeting late last year and released on Sunday.
China should “coordinate efforts to boost consumption and expand investment, and fully leverage the advantages of China’s super-large-scale market,” according to Xi’s remarks published on the website of Qiushi, the Communist Party’s flagship journal. “We must focus on improving people’s livelihoods and boosting future growth, stabilizing investment.”
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The blueprint laid out by Xi made clear China is bracing for more uncertainty abroad, after amassing a record trade surplus despite the tariff war with the US. The address was made in December at the Central Economic Work Conference, which sets economic policy priorities for the coming year.
The language illustrates Beijing’s growing resolve to promote consumption among China’s 1.4 billion people, as countries around the world increasingly push back against its cheap goods that pose a threat to their local industries. Top officials like Vice Premier He Lifeng have also raised the prospect of greater access to China’s domestic market to reduce imbalances in trade.
China’s economy expanded 5% last year, with record exports compensating for cooling private consumption at home and an unprecedented drop in investment. That lopsided growth model will probably become harder to sustain in an era of rising protectionism across the world.
With trade and geopolitical risks on the rise, China is looking to build up its consumer sector into a key engine of the economy while continuing to lean on emerging new industries for growth.
“We will remain committed to innovation‑driven development and accelerate the cultivation and strengthening of new growth drivers,” Xi said.
As part of an effort to support demand, Xi used his speech to champion plans to increase the incomes and basic pensions of rural and urban residents and boost the proportion of investment projects linked to people’s livelihoods.
Other priorities laid out in his speech include advancing high-quality development, continuing to open up the economy and promoting China’s green transition. The president also appealed to officials to curb cutthroat competition among companies — a campaign dubbed “anti-involution” — and stabilize the property market and employment of graduates and migrant workers.