Annual Conference on China’s Economy 2023-2024 was Held in Beijing

On December 13, 2023, the Annual Conference on China's Economy 2023-2024, organized by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges(CCIEE), was held in Beijing with the theme of "Focusing on Enhancing Internal Development Dynamics, Solidly Promoting High-Quality Development." Centering on the theme, participants had in-depth discussions around the topics including “Comprehensively Interpreting the Spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference," "Implementing the Deployments of the Central Economic Work Conference to Promote High-Quality Development," "Effectively Implementing an Active Fiscal Policy to Sustain Economic Recovery," "Implementing Prudent Monetary Policies to Strongly Support the Development of the Real Economy," "Thoroughly Studying and Implementing the Spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference to Accelerate the Advancement of New Industrialization," "Advancing High-level Opening-up to Maintain Stable Growth in Foreign Trade and Foreign Capital Utilization," "Building a New Model for Real Estate Development to Promote the Healthy Operation of the Real Estate Market," "Key Insights from Studying the Spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference". The meeting was chaired by Bi Jingquan, Member of Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Economic Affairs, 14th CPPCC National Committee, and Executive Vice Chairman of CCIEE. Ning Jizhe, Member of Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Economic Affairs, 14th CPPCC National Committee, and Vice Chairman of CCIEE, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Over 200 participants, including leaders from relevant departments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, experts, scholars, entrepreneurs, and representatives from think tanks, were present at the conference.

Participants at the conference expressed that this year marks the beginning of fully implementing the spirit of the 20th Party Congress and is a year of economic recovery and development following the transition in the three-year period of COVID-19 prevention and control. Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the entire Party and people of all ethnic groups in the country have united to resist external pressures, overcome internal difficulties, comprehensively deepen reform and opening up, increase macroeconomic regulation efforts, focus on expanding domestic demand, optimizing structure, boosting confidence, and preventing and resolving risks. As a result, China's economy has rebounded positively, and high-quality development is being solidly promoted. To further drive the positive momentum of economic recovery, it is necessary to overcome challenges such as insufficient effective demand, overcapacity in some industries, weak social expectations, and various risks that still exist. There are bottlenecks in the domestic circulation, and the external environment is becoming more complex, severe, and uncertain. It is essential to enhance awareness of potential risks and effectively address these issues. Despite the challenges, overall, the favorable conditions for China's development outweigh the unfavorable factors. The basic trend of the economy recovering and improving in the long term remains unchanged, and confidence should be strengthened.

Participants emphasized that next year, it is crucial to adhere to the principles of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and addressing challenges after establishing foundations. Policies that are conducive to stabilizing expectations, growth, and employment should be introduced. There should be proactive efforts in transitioning modes, adjusting structures, improving quality, and increasing efficiency to consolidate the foundation for stable and positive development. Fiscal policies should be appropriately strengthened to enhance quality and efficiency, and monetary policies should be flexible, moderate, precise, and effective. Consistency in macroeconomic policy orientation should be enhanced.

The meeting emphasized that in the coming year, it is necessary to focus on promoting high-quality development, highlight key points, grasp crucial aspects, and effectively carry out economic work. It is important to lead the construction of a modern industrial system with technological innovation, concentrate on expanding domestic demand, deepen reforms in key areas, enhance high-level opening-up, continually and effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas, persistently address issuerelated to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, promote urban-rural integration and regional coordinated development, advance ecological civilization construction and green low-carbon development, and genuinely ensure and improve people's livelihoods.

Leaders and experts from the Office of the Central Committee of Finance and Economics of the CPC, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and other units interpreted the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and shared their insights.