BEIJING, Dec. 11 — China’s annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday, with the country’s leadership setting key priorities for economic and social development in 2026.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered an important speech at the meeting. He reviewed China’s economic performance in 2025, analyzed the current economic landscape and outlined major tasks for the year ahead.
The conference noted that 2025 has been an extraordinary year, with major targets for economic and social development expected to be met. As China approaches the successful conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), the meeting highlighted that the country has effectively weathered multiple shocks and challenges over the past five years, achieving significant new progress in national development.
Despite persistent and emerging challenges, including a complex external environment and risks in certain sectors, the conference emphasized that China’s long-term economic fundamentals remain sound. It called for fully tapping growth potential through a combination of policy support, reform and innovation, while balancing market vitality with effective regulation and strengthening domestic capabilities.
The meeting stressed the need to fully apply the new development philosophy, accelerate the formation of a new development paradigm and promote high-quality development. China will continue to pursue progress while ensuring stability, better coordinate domestic economic work with international economic and trade challenges, and balance development with security.
More proactive and impactful macroeconomic policies will be implemented, with efforts to expand domestic demand, optimize supply and foster new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions. The country will work to build a unified national market, prevent and defuse risks in key areas, and stabilize employment, businesses, markets and expectations, laying a solid foundation for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030).
On fiscal policy, China will maintain a more proactive stance, keeping necessary fiscal deficits, debt levels and expenditure scales, while standardizing tax incentives and subsidies and addressing local fiscal pressures. A moderately loose monetary policy will also continue, with flexible use of tools such as reserve requirement ratios and interest rates to ensure ample liquidity and stable financial conditions. The RMB exchange rate will be kept generally stable at a balanced level.
Boosting domestic demand was identified as a major task for 2026. The conference called for special initiatives to promote consumption, expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, remove unreasonable restrictions and unlock the potential of service consumption. Investment will be stabilized and revitalized through increased central government investment, new policy-based financial instruments and high-quality urban renewal.
Innovation-driven development will be accelerated, with the cultivation of new growth engines. China plans to strengthen international technological innovation centers in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, advance the “AI Plus” initiative, improve AI governance and develop science and technology finance.
The meeting underscored the importance of deepening reform to enhance economic vitality. Measures will be taken to address excessive competition, advance reforms of state-owned assets and enterprises, improve support for the private sector and deepen capital market reforms. Institutional opening-up will continue, including orderly expansion of the service sector, steady progress on the Hainan Free Trade Port and greater support for digital and green trade.
China will also promote coordinated regional and urban-rural development, advance county-focused urbanization and rural revitalization, safeguard food security and consolidate achievements in poverty alleviation. Green transformation remains a priority, with efforts to promote energy conservation, carbon reduction, green electricity use and development of the national carbon emissions trading market.
Improving people’s livelihoods was highlighted as a central goal. Policies will focus on stabilizing employment, optimizing education resources, reforming medical insurance payments, supporting vulnerable groups and maintaining public safety, including food and drug safety.
The conference also called for active and prudent risk prevention, particularly in stabilizing the real estate market, promoting the construction of quality housing and managing local government debt in an orderly manner.
The meeting emphasized upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, accurately assessing development performance and formulating high-quality national and local plans for the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
The conference was attended by members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi. Li Qiang delivered a concluding speech, outlining requirements for implementing the conference’s guiding principles and ensuring effective economic work in 2026.