China is planning ‘major’ economic reforms, Xi says – Taipei Times

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda.

Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted.

The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people.

Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. “We will … form a more market-oriented, legal and international business environment.”

“China’s door will only open wider and wider, and will never be closed,” he added.

Xi has touted the promise of significant reform several times this year and the government has already enacted measures in key sectors such as real estate to try to address critical issues.

On Thursday, it was announced that the delayed Third Plenum — a meeting historically watched for signals on economic policy direction — would take place in Beijing in the middle of next month.

The key meeting of top officials, originally expected last year, is highly anticipated in the hopes it might resolve the uncertainty that has weighed on China’s economy.

The People’s Bank of China later yesterday pledged to “promote the implementation of the financial policies and measures already issued, and push for the stable and healthy development of the real-estate market.”

It would “promote the accelerated construction of a new model for real estate development,” the central bank said in a statement.