BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders pledged on Thursday to build a modern industrial system and step up efforts to achieve technological self-sufficiency, steps the party sees as key to strengthening its position in its growing rivalry with the United States.
As expected, the CPC Central Committee also promised to step up efforts to increase domestic demand and improve people’s living conditions, long-held goals that in recent years have been little more than an afterthought as China has prioritized manufacturing and investment.
China’s economy’s overreliance on exports as trade tensions with Washington escalate could prompt Beijing to find a better political balance in coming years, although analysts expect efforts to be slow.
A statement shared by state news agency Xinhua following the four-day closed-door meeting of CPC officials, known as the plenum, laid out China’s priorities for its next five-year development plan.
This five-year development plan will only be published in its entirety during a parliamentary meeting in March.
“The country will find itself in a period (2026-2030) where strategic opportunities will coexist with risks and challenges, and where there will be an increase in uncertain and unpredictable factors,” Xinhua reported, citing the statement.
“We should maintain a reasonable proportion of the manufacturing sector and establish a modern industrial system whose backbone is advanced manufacturing.”
The statement said Beijing will strive to improve people’s welfare and the social security system. However, the press release does not specify how Beijing intends to achieve this or the origin of the funds.
Uncertainty over the timing, pace, financing and scale of these policies is likely to keep economists and investors concerned about the government’s ability to rebalance China’s economy as household consumption lags about 20 percentage points of GDP behind global averages.
(Written by the Beijing editorial team; Coralie Lamarque, edited by Kate Entringer)
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