Govt. looking to stabilize economic growth and drive high-quality development——CGTN

By: CGTN   Date: 2021-12-12

China's annual Central Economic Work conference has concluded. The high-level meeting reviewed China's economic performance for this year and looked forward to the year ahead. A local think-tank – the China center for international exchanges – has invited policy-makers to discuss what came out of the three-day conference. Yang Shanshan has more.

How will China tackle the economic challenges of 2022?

In Beijing on Saturday, policy-makers said the government was taking into account many domestic and global issues which are hindering growth, such as the pandemic, global supply chain disorder, the rising costs of raw materials and weak consumer spending.

However, its focus continues to be on stabilizing economic growth, whilst placing a special focus on high-quality development and green energy

HAN WENXIU Deputy Director Central Finance & Economics Committee "Next year, we will implement an active fiscal policy and a stable monetary policy. The fiscal policy should be targeting, and would focus on increasing productivity, efficiency and sustainability. We will also deduct tax and administration fees to reduce financial burdens on enterprises. A state monetary policy should be flexible and keep liquidation moderately flow. China's central bank has already announced a cut to the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50 basis points to support the economy."

Optimizing China's economic structure is another goal.

Policy-makers say they will continue to regulate real estate, develop capital markets and encourage high-tech development.

Though this year's export data has been described as exceptionally good, the government hopes to encourage more consumer spending at home.

NING JIZHE Commissioner, National Bureau of Statistics "We must make efforts to boost domestic consumption. This year we have implemented a strategy of increasing domestic consumption. And consumption and investment in China has gradually recovered. Residential consumption also experienced a lift. From January to October, retail consumption maintained double-digit growth. It was driven by basic residential consumption and the consumption of higher-quality goods."

China has also big plans for the development of its green economy. The government sees the energy sector as key to achieving its ambitious climate goals.

ZHANG XIAOQIANG Executive Vice Chairman China Center for Intl. Economic Exchanges "To achieve a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, the restructuring of the energy mix is top of our reform agenda. To generate more green and low-carbon energy, we first have to conserve energy. Then we will dedicate ourselves to new energy development and, at the same time, we will improve energy efficiency and make fossil-fuel energy cleaner. We will initiate policies, reform the organization, and encourage technology development to incorporate more green and low-carbon energy into the energy mix."

YANG SHANSHAN CGTN Reporter "Though the pandemic still poses a threat to the global economic recovery, China says it will continue to implement efforts to stabilize its economic development. And, in the long-term, China says it's committed to high-quality economic growth, especially in pursuing a green economy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Yang Shanshan CGTN."