BEIJING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 9: Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People on November 9, 2024 in Beijing, China.
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China affirmed its recent policy shifts and stressed plans to boost growth in a high-level economic planning meeting that wrapped up Thursday, according to state media.
The annual economic work conference followed a high-level Monday meeting of the Politburo, the ruling Communist Party's top decision-making body led by President Xi Jinping.
The Politburo vowed to implement "more proactive" fiscal tools and "moderately loose" monetary policies in 2025, while ramping up "unconventional counter-cyclical adjustments" to boost domestic consumption "on all fronts," according to a readout by state-owned Xinhua.
Employing language that has not been used since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2008, Beijing signaled a heightened urgency to shore up its ailing economy and prepare for a potential trade war with the U.S., as Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Chinese officials have ramped up stimulus measures since late September, including the implementation of several interest rate cuts, looser property purchase requirements, liquidity support for stock markets and a 10-trillion-yuan ($1.4 trillion) stimulus package to alleviate local government debt problems.
However, recent economic data indicated that these steps have not proven sufficient to offset persisting deflationary pressure in the economy, fueling investors' hopes that Beijing would further amp up its stimulus measures to restore growth.
The country's consumer price inflation fell to a five-month low in November, while a deflation in wholesale prices lingers, with the producer price index sliding for the 26th straight month.
Chinese authorities have reiterated Beijing's intention to boost consumption throughout the year. Little in terms of policies has been put in place, other than a subsidy program to incentivize trading in used household appliances and electronic goods.
While the policy details and specific figures will only be announced at the National People's Congress next March, it is widely expected that Beijing will keep its next year's GDP growth target at "around 5%."
Policymakers may also set a higher-than-usual budget deficit target of up to 4% of gross domestic product, some economists forecast, which would allow more central government borrowing to support the flagging economy.
This breaking news is being updated.
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