The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday, as Chinese leaders reviewed the economic work in 2018 and made plans for the economy in 2019.
The following is a round-up of the key points of the conferences over the last five years.
Dec. 18-20, 2017
Basic tone: making progress while maintaining stability, pushing for high-quality development
Major tasks: China vowed to maintain a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent and neutral monetary policy; give better play to the role of structural policies; address problems related to people’s livelihood with social policies; accelerate the pace of economic reforms; open up wider and significantly ease market access; fight the “three tough battles” against risks, poverty and pollution in the coming three years; deepen the supply-side structural reform; stimulate the vitality of various market entities; implement the rural vitalization strategy and the coordinated regional development strategy; make new ground in pursuing opening up on all fronts; improve people’s wellbeing; accelerate efforts to establish a housing system that ensures supply through multiple sources, provide housing support through multiple channels and encourages both housing purchase and renting; move faster to promote ecological conservation.
Dec. 14-16, 2016
Basic tone: making progress while maintaining stability, with continued efforts to propel supply-side structural reforms and improve economic quality and efficiency
Major tasks: China vowed to implement a prudent and neutral monetary policy and make its fiscal policy more proactive and effective in 2017; ensure stable liquidity and the yuan’s exchange rate; put more emphasis on preventing and controlling financial risks; continue to deepen supply-side structural reform, with progress in cutting industrial capacity, destocking, deleveraging, lowering costs and improving weak links; advance supply-side structural reform in agriculture; revive the real economy; ensure a healthy and stable property market; continue to push forward human-centered urbanization; make headway in reforms in key areas, including mixed ownership of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), property rights protection, fiscal and finance systems, capital markets and banking, pensions and opening up.
Dec. 18-21, 2015
Basic tone: making progress while maintaining stability, with a priority on structural reform
Major tasks: China vowed to stabilize growth, make structural adjustments, improve people’s livelihoods and guard against risks in 2016; ensure the economy operates within a reasonable range; appropriately expand aggregate demand while promoting supply-side structural reform; move ahead on five major tasks including excess capacity cutting and deleveraging; advance reform in key sectors, including SOEs, fiscal policy and taxation, finance, banking, pensions and health.
Dec. 9-11, 2014
Basic tone: making progress while maintaining stability, centering on quality and efficiency of economic growth
Major tasks: China vowed to keep economic growth and policies steady in 2015; actively adapt to the economic “new normal” of slower but higher quality growth; continue targeted and structured control policies to maintain medium-high growth; strengthen proactive fiscal policy; ensure prudent, balanced monetary policy; accelerate reform in administrative approval, investment, pricing, monopolies, franchising, government purchased services and outbound investment; improve the investment environment and market access in the service sector; further open up manufacturing sectors; promote the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ); stabilize inbound overseas investment and seek higher quality investment.
Dec. 10-13, 2013
Basic tone: making progress while maintaining stability, pushing forward reform and innovation
Major tasks: China vowed to push forward reform and innovation in economic and social development; make progress while maintaining stability; continue proactive fiscal and prudent monetary policy; enhance quality and efficiency of economic growth; stimulate market vitality; accelerate structural adjustment; push forward interest rate liberalization and exchange rate reform; keep reasonable growth of the money supply and social financing; ensure national food security; resolve industrial overcapacity and advance innovation; contain local government debt risks; promote regional coordinated development; improve people’s livelihoods; enhance a sound, transparent and fair environment to protect investors; strengthen the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
