Xi Outlines Five Key Relationships for China's Economic Development
More Details of Xi's Address at the 2024 Central Economic Work Conference Published in CPC's Flagship Journal & Vice President of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Boosting Domestic Demand
As the Two Sessions approaches, China watchers worldwide are eager to see how China will outline this year's economic policy priorities. (also an extremely busy week for Chinese reporters like us) On Feb. 28, CPC's flagship journal, Qiushi (求是), published part of Xi Jinping's remarks on the Chinese economy during the Central Economic Work Conference last December. In this edition of Qiushi, Xi outlined five pairs of relations that must be properly coordinated in managing China's economy. These include:
Balancing effective markets with capable governments
Coordinating aggregate supply and demand
Integrating new economic drivers with upgrading traditional industries
Optimizing incremental resources while revitalizing existing assets
Enhancing quality while maintaining reasonable quantitative growth
The words are straightforward, so I directly give translation with the help of AI:
经济工作必须统筹好几对重要关系
2024 was a critical year for achieving the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan. Facing complex and severe circumstances with increasing external pressure and growing internal difficulties, the CPC Central Committee united and led the Party and people of all ethnic groups across the country, responding calmly and implementing comprehensive measures. The economy operated with overall stability and steady progress, high-quality development advanced solidly, and the main objectives and tasks for economic and social development were about to be successfully completed. China's economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, and comprehensive national power continued to strengthen, with Chinese-style modernization taking new and solid steps forward.
The development journey over the past year has been extraordinary, with encouraging achievements. First, the economy followed a pattern of “high at the beginning, low in the middle, and rising at the end.” The first quarter started well, while downward pressure increased in the second and third quarters. On September 26, the Politburo meeting decisively deployed a package of incremental policies, effectively boosting the real estate and stock markets, market expectations, and social confidence. The economy rebounded significantly, both facilitating the achievement of annual goals and laying a solid foundation for economic development in 2025. Second, new quality productive forces developed steadily. Technological innovation was made in integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology. The intelligent transformation and digital transition of traditional industries continued to advance. The pace of green and low-carbon transformation accelerated. Third, reform and opening up deepened continuously. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made arrangements for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization. High-quality joint construction of the 'Belt and Road Initiative' progressed solidly. High-level opening up achieved positive results, with foreign trade exports making greater contributions to economic growth. Fourth, risks in key areas were resolved in an orderly and effective manner. The real estate market showed positive changes, while risks related to local government debt and small and medium-sized financial institutions were being effectively mitigated and controlled. Fifth, people's livelihood protection was solid and strong. Employment and prices remained stable, and the achievements in poverty alleviation were consolidated and expanded. Grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion jin for the first time. The quality of the ecological environment continued to improve. Social stability was maintained. All these further strengthened our determination and confidence to forge ahead, overcome difficulties, and solidly advance Chinese-style modernization in the new era and on the new journey.
When analyzing the situation, we must adhere to the “two-point perspective,” adequately acknowledging achievements while thoroughly explaining problems. The adverse effects of changes in the external environment are deepening, and China's economy still faces numerous difficulties and challenges. These mainly include insufficient domestic demand, operational difficulties for some enterprises, pressure on employment and income growth for the people, and still numerous risks and hidden dangers. At the same time, we must recognize that China's economic foundation is stable, its advantages numerous, its resilience strong, and its potential great. The supporting conditions and basic trend of long-term improvement have not changed. As long as confidence does not slip, solutions will outnumber difficulties. We need to face difficulties squarely, maintain confidence, and strive to transform positive factors in all aspects into development achievements.
In practice, we have continuously deepened our understanding of the patterns of economic work. The greatest consensus formed throughout the Party is that the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee is the fundamental guarantee for successful economic work. At critical moments and important junctures, the CPC Central Committee promptly assesses the situation and makes strategic decisions and deployments, ensuring that China's economic ship rides the waves, maintains stability, and sails far. Economic work is complex and multifaceted, and several important relationships must be properly coordinated.
First, it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between an effective market and a capable government, forming an economic order that is both “dynamically unleashed” and “properly managed.” The government must know when to act and when to refrain, addressing problems of both omission and overreach. To act appropriately means continuously building a rule-of-law economy and a credit-based economy, improving market rules and taking the lead in observing them, optimizing the market environment through resolutely combating corruption and ensuring public safety, focusing on correcting market failures, regulating competitive order, and making the unified national market a grand stage for fair competition among all types of market entities. To refrain appropriately means respecting and leveraging the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, preventing improper intervention in microeconomic activities, and avoiding local protectionism and small self-circulation. The more standardized government behavior becomes, the more effective market functions will be.
Second, it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between aggregate supply and aggregate demand, facilitating smooth circulation in the national economy. We must maintain coordinated efforts on both the supply and demand sides with dynamic balance, continuously deepen supply-side structural reforms with advances and retreats, protection and constraints, enhancing the compatibility and balance between supply and demand. Expanding domestic demand relates not only to economic stability but also to economic security; it is not an expedient measure but a strategic initiative. We must accelerate addressing shortcomings in domestic demand, especially in consumption, making domestic demand the main driver and stabilizing anchor for economic growth.
Third, it is necessary to properly coordinate the relationship between cultivating new growth drivers and updating old ones, developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions. With technological innovation as the lead, we must vigorously foster and strengthen emerging industries and future industries, occupy the heights of international competition, and shape new drivers and advantages for economic development. At the same time, we must accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, which serve as the basic support for economic growth and employment income, enabling them to radiate new vitality and promoting a smooth transition between old and new development drivers.
Fourth, it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between optimizing incremental resources and revitalizing existing ones, comprehensively improving resource allocation efficiency. After long-term development, China needs to strengthen asset management and liability management simultaneously, effectively utilize various incremental and stock resources, and be adept at driving growth through the revitalization of existing assets. We must continuously promote industrial parks' 'making room for new occupants,' effectively use policies such as replacing existing hidden debt and revitalizing idle land, coordinate the optimization of incremental resources and the revitalization of existing ones, manage assets well while adjusting liabilities, and expand new development space.
Fifth, it is necessary to coordinate the relationship between enhancing quality and expanding quantity, consolidating the material foundation of Chinese-style modernization. China possesses enormous economic volume, market capacity, and industrial supporting capabilities, which are favorable conditions for enhancing quality and achieving excellence and strength. China's per capita national income has not yet reached the world average, and the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development remain prominent. We must adhere to the unity of winning through quality and leveraging scale effects, make good use of the advantages of the super-large market and rich application scenarios, cultivate more world-class enterprises and leading technologies, and integrate effective quality enhancement with reasonable quantitative growth throughout the process of high-quality development.
Following Xi’s remarks, Qiushi also published another article by Wang Changlin（王昌林）, who currently serves as the Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Previously, he was the director of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research (AMR), a research institute under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). As a former leader of NDRC’s research institute, his views provide readers insight into how the Chinese government understands current economic issues.
In his piece, Wang analyzed the causes of weak domestic demand and proposed strategies to stimulate consumption. His recommendations follow three key priorities: First, increasing the employment rate; second, strengthening safety nets for low-income groups by increasing fiscal investment in basic public services like education and healthcare, expanding affordable housing supply, improving social security systems, and introducing fertility support policies; and third, easing restrictions on automobile and real estate purchases while expanding trade-in programs and encouraging consumption in service sectors such as tourism.
Below is the translation with the help of AI:
以提振消费为重点全方位扩大内需
Comprehensively Expand Domestic Demand With A Focus On Boosting Consumption
General Secretary Xi Jinping has stated: "In constructing a new development pattern, we must adhere to the strategic foundation of expanding domestic demand, making production, distribution, circulation, and consumption rely more on the domestic market to form a virtuous cycle in the national economy." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee clearly proposed the need to build a unified national market and accelerate the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system. The Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2024 made systematic arrangements for economic work in 2025, listing "vigorously boosting consumption, improving investment efficiency, and comprehensively expanding domestic demand" as the first of nine key tasks. This is a major strategic choice made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, based on a scientific understanding of complex domestic and international situations. We must deeply study, understand, and implement this directive.
I. Insufficient Domestic Demand is a Prominent Contradiction in China's Current Economic Operation
Economic development is a process of interaction between supply and demand. On one hand, production factors such as labor, capital, technology, and institutional conditions determine the potential growth level of the economy; the objects, methods, structures, and levels of demand and new supply can create new demand. On the other hand, demand guides supply and provides momentum for supply. Ultimately, all economic activities aim to satisfy demand; without demand, supply cannot be realized. Marxist political economy holds that social reproduction includes four links: production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. Only when these links are smoothly connected and mutually promoting can the entire economic cycle operate efficiently. The dynamic balance between aggregate supply and aggregate demand is a basic requirement for stable and healthy economic development and a fundamental goal of macroeconomic regulation. "We must coordinate the relationship between aggregate supply and aggregate demand and ensure the smooth circulation of the national economy." This is a regular understanding of our party when conducting economic work in the new era.
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has firmly implemented the strategy of expanding domestic demand, accelerated the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system, and positioned the expansion of domestic demand as a key focus in constructing the new development pattern. As a result, domestic demand has significantly strengthened its supporting role in economic development. However, with the profound changes in domestic and international situations in recent years, the issue of insufficient domestic demand, especially sluggish consumption, has become increasingly prominent in China's economic development. In 2024, China's total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.5% year-on-year, a decline of 3.7 percentage points compared to 2023, with growth substantially below the pre-pandemic level of over 8%. The contribution of domestic demand to economic growth was 69.7%, with final consumption expenditure contributing 44.5%, which weakened compared to 2023. Meanwhile, although national fixed asset investment increased by 3.2% over the previous year, private investment decreased by 0.1%, declining for the second consecutive year, revealing phenomena such as slowing investment growth and weak enterprise investment willingness. Insufficient domestic demand has led to supply-demand imbalances, "involutionary-competition"(内卷式竞争) in some fields and industries, and low-level price operations, becoming a major factor affecting enterprise development, resident employment, and government tax revenue growth, causing insufficient momentum and obstruction in the domestic economic cycle, and constraining stable economic growth.
This situation has multiple causes. From objective factors, major changes in real estate supply-demand relationships and population size and structure have led to slower growth in housing consumption, real estate investment, and pregnancy-related businesses. This is a developmental process that many developed countries have experienced and a stage we must inevitably go through. From policy factors, policy measures supporting consumption in education, healthcare, elderly care, and other areas are still imperfect, and legal framework development in some fields lags behind, resulting in insufficient new supply to support consumption upgrading. From institutional factors, China's income distribution pattern remains unreasonable, with the proportion of resident income in national income distribution and labor remuneration in primary distribution still relatively low. Unreasonable income gaps persist among employees of different ownership structures, industries, and groups. The redistribution system has weak regulatory effects on income gaps, the social security system remains imperfect, and third distribution regulation of income gaps has limited effect, leading to insufficient consumption capacity and willingness among middle and low-income groups. Currently, China's resident consumption rate is about 40%, far below the approximately 70% level of high-income economies and even below the world average of about 56%. This also indicates that China has enormous potential for expanding domestic demand.
Overall, the contradictions and problems in China's current economic operation exist on both the demand and supply sides. On the demand side, regarding consumption, some groups have consumption willingness but weak payment capacity, while others have certain payment capacity but strong precautionary saving motives due to insufficient public services and security levels, making it difficult to effectively release potential consumption demand. Regarding investment, despite a high investment accumulation rate, there is a lack of good investment projects, with large amounts of capital unable to enter the real economy. On the supply side, contradictions mainly manifest as a lack of original, disruptive technological innovation achievements, insufficient supply of high-quality, cost-effective products, and basic public services in some areas, with weak capacity for supply to create demand. In response, we must combine deepening supply-side structural reform with expanding domestic demand, focus on enhancing supply-side innovation capacity, accelerate addressing the shortcomings of domestic demand, especially consumption, and form a higher-level dynamic balance where demand drives supply and supply creates demand.
We must also recognize that expanding domestic demand is not only an important task for addressing short-term challenges but also a long-term strategic measure for China's stable economic development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that in today's world, the scarcest resource is the market. Market resources are China's tremendous advantage, and they must be fully utilized and leveraged, continuously consolidated, and strengthened to form strong support for building the new development pattern. From the perspective of world economic history, large country economies are characterized by domestic demand-led growth, especially after per capita GDP exceeds $10,000, when domestic demand in major economies drives economic growth by an average of over 70%, with resident consumption contributing over 50% on average. Currently, with the acceleration of unprecedented changes in the world over the past century, competition for markets among countries, especially major world powers, is intensifying. Some countries frequently threaten others with tariffs by leveraging their market advantages, increasing the uncertainty in China's external environment. In this situation, we must highly value expanding domestic demand, building a strong domestic market, effectively mitigating the impact of external shocks and declining external demand, and making domestic demand the main driver and stable anchor of economic development.
II. Deeply Understanding and Grasping the Stage Characteristics of China's Domestic Demand Expansion
Currently, China's economy is at a crucial stage of accelerating transformation and upgrading while vigorously promoting high-quality development. The foundation and conditions for expanding domestic demand have undergone significant new changes, creating new space and opportunities for vigorously boosting consumption and improving investment efficiency.
The expansion of domestic demand has entered a stage that relies more on expanding consumption. After the reform and opening up, China formed an efficient investment-driven model that played an important role in promoting rapid industrialization and urbanization, quickly enhancing economic strength and improving people's lives, achieving remarkable success. Overall, after decades of high-intensity, large-scale development, and construction, China's large-scale investment stage has basically been completed. In recent years, investment efficiency has shown a declining trend, revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights has decreased significantly, and the space for stabilizing growth through investment is shrinking while difficulties are increasing. Since investment is an indirect demand that can expand demand in the short term, in the medium to long term, it increases supply and expands production capacity. Moreover, investment expansion is often accompanied by increased debt. Against the backdrop of generally high local government debt and increased export pressure on enterprises, if a high investment rate continues over the long term, it will inevitably lead to problems such as total supply-demand imbalance and overcapacity, further increasing the difficulty of resolving debt. According to international experience, when a country enters the middle and late stages of industrialization and urbanization, and the investment rate shows a downward trend, economic development must transition to a stage where growth is more supported by domestic demand, especially consumer demand. Research results indicate that Chinese residents' consumption as a proportion of global consumption is not only lower than that of some major economies but also significantly lower compared to China's proportion of global population, GDP scale, and gross capital formation. Therefore, it is now essential to place greater emphasis on expanding consumer demand and strengthening consumption's fundamental role in economic development. Of course, this does not mean that consumption is important while investment is not; rather, it reminds us to better handle the relationship between investment and consumption. Addressing consumption shortcomings is an objective requirement and inevitable choice for promoting China's economic development, while investment, especially effective investment, still plays a key role in achieving China's long-term sustained and stable economic development.
Consumption is entering a stage of transformation from moderate prosperity to affluence. With China's economic development, the enormous potential of consumer demand will continue to be unleashed. First, traditional consumption still has considerable growth space. Taking automobiles as an example, in 2023, China's automobile ownership reached 336 million vehicles, with nearly 240 vehicles per thousand people, still significantly lower than the 400-800 vehicles per thousand people in major developed countries, indicating enormous growth potential for the automotive industry. Similarly, while urban residents now have an average living space exceeding 40 square meters per person with notably improved housing conditions, a large number of new urban residents still need to purchase housing. A considerable proportion of families live in older communities that need solutions for elevator installation, parking, charging, and other issues. The rigid demand for real estate, demand for improved housing, and urban renewal needs all harbor immense potential. Second, service consumption will enter a period of rapid growth. In 2023, service consumption accounted for 45.2% of China's per capita resident consumption, whereas in developed countries after per capita GDP exceeds $10,000, service consumption generally accounts for over 50%. In the coming period, people's demand for high-quality and diverse educational public services, healthcare services, and cultural tourism services will grow rapidly, with tremendous development potential in first-launch economy, ice and snow economy, and silver economy. For instance, tourism, an important component of a good life, is entering a period of rapid development, with the "post-90s"(90后) and "post-00s"(00后) generations becoming the main force in tourism and the travel demands of the "silver-haired group" growing substantially. Additionally, by the end of 2023, China's population aged 60 and above reached about 297 million, accounting for 21.1% of the total population, including nearly 40 million elderly people aged 80 and above and more than 30 million disabled elderly people. The increasing elderly population will generate enormous demand for age-friendly renovations, institutional elderly care, community and home-based elderly care, and household services. Third, new types of consumption will continuously expand consumption space. In recent years, new consumption products and business models represented by smart home appliances, new energy vehicles, livestream e-commerce, and instant retail have developed rapidly, injecting strong momentum into consumption growth. In the coming period, the in-depth development of artificial intelligence, biomedicine, commercial aerospace, and other fields will profoundly change people's lifestyles and further stimulate consumption potential.
Investment is entering a stage of optimizing investment direction and improving investment efficiency. There remains enormous space and potential for expanding investment to advance new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural modernization, and meet people's needs for a better life. In terms of infrastructure construction, although a relatively complete and ultra-large-scale infrastructure network has formed through long-term development, there remains a significant gap compared to modern infrastructure standards. Regional, structural, and functional shortcomings still exist, requiring increased investment in water conservancy, urban underground pipe networks, and other areas. In terms of technological innovation and manufacturing investment, advancing the construction of a science and technology powerhouse, developing new quality productive forces, and promoting industrial transformation and upgrading require increased investment in breakthroughs in key core technologies and the digital and green transformation of industrial development. Taking green transformation as an example, according to estimates by relevant research institutions, achieving the "dual carbon" goals will require annual investments of over 3 trillion yuan for the next 30-plus years, totaling more than 100 trillion yuan. In terms of urbanization, China's permanent resident urbanization rate reached 66.2% in 2023, while the household registration urbanization rate was 48.3%. Urbanization development has generally entered a stage that equally emphasizes transitioning from incremental construction to improving the quality of existing stock and adjusting the structure of incremental growth. It has entered a period of accelerating urban renewal and building livable, resilient, and smart cities, with significant potential for urban renovation and upgrading and broad space for new urbanization construction. International experience shows that when the urbanization rate reaches 60%-70%, each 1% increase in the urbanization rate drives an increase of about 3.5% in per capita capital stock during the same period. In terms of livelihood investment and "investment in people," there are still many shortcomings in education, healthcare, elderly care, childcare, and other livelihood areas. In 2023, fiscal expenditure on education, social security and employment, health, and housing security accounted for over 40% of total fiscal expenditure, still lower than the average level of developed countries. In the future, investment in basic public services, affordable housing, fertility support, and other areas needs to be substantially increased.
III. Deeply Tapping the Structural Potential for Expanding Domestic Demand
The Central Economic Work Conference has made comprehensive and systematic arrangements for expanding domestic demand, clearly requiring the completion of key economic tasks for 2025 by focusing on crucial areas, targeting the prominent issues of insufficient demand, and striving to boost domestic demand, especially resident consumer demand. We must thoroughly study and understand the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourse on expanding domestic demand, conscientiously implement the decisions and deployments of the Central Economic Work Conference, take effective and powerful measures, focus on releasing China's enormous domestic demand potential, and solidly promote high-quality economic development to lay a solid foundation for comprehensively building a modern socialist country.
Vigorously boost consumption and promote consumption quality upgrading. Starting from key areas such as employment, income, and social security, we should adhere to classified approaches and implement actions to boost consumption. First, vigorously promote high-quality employment and continuously increase people's income levels. The key to stabilizing and boosting consumption is promoting high-quality employment and increasing people's income through multiple channels. We should further strengthen efforts to stabilize jobs in enterprises, promote youth employment, and improve labor participation rates. Vigorously develop the service industry, support the development of new business formats and models, and continuously create new employment opportunities. Second, focus on ensuring and improving people's livelihoods, enhancing the consumption capacity and willingness of middle and low-income groups. Concerns about education, healthcare, housing, childbearing, and social security are important factors currently affecting residents' consumption confidence and willingness. We should adhere to doing our best within our capabilities, combining consumption promotion with benefiting people's livelihoods, increasing fiscal input into basic public services such as education and healthcare, increasing the construction and supply of affordable housing, improving the social security system, introducing fertility support policies, and effectively enhancing the consumption capacity and confidence of middle and low-income groups. Third, increase consumption supply and vigorously develop service consumption. We should further optimize consumption policies for automobiles, real estate, and other areas, strengthen and expand the "trade-in" of consumer goods, and continuously enhance traditional consumption. Adapting to the demands and trends of consumption upgrading, we should expand cultural and tourism consumption, increase elderly care and childcare service consumption, provide multi-level healthcare services, improve education service quality, promote mass sports consumption, promote quality improvement, and expand housekeeping services, and improve community public service levels. Grasp the development opportunities of new types of consumption characterized by digital, green, and healthy features, support the integrated development of online and offline goods consumption, cultivate new models of "Internet + social services," develop the new individual economy, and vigorously advocate green and low-carbon consumption.
Optimize investment direction and improve investment efficiency. Focus on "addressing shortcomings and enhancing momentum," fully stimulate private investment dynamics, and maintain reasonable investment growth. First, provide greater support for "two major" constructions. (Implementation of major national strategies and building security capabilities in key areas) Focusing on advancing the implementation of major national strategies and building security capabilities in key areas, coordinate the use of central budget investment, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, new local special bonds, and other construction funds. Strengthen the construction of east-west and north-south transportation corridors, improve cross-provincial major infrastructure systems such as transportation and energy, and moderately plan ahead for new infrastructure construction such as 5G, computing power, and charging stations. Increase investment in breakthroughs in key core technologies and continuously promote industrial intelligence and green transformation. Support the development of venture capital and create a batch of new growth engines such as artificial intelligence, biological manufacturing, commercial aerospace, and low-altitude economy. Strengthen the construction of modern grain and agricultural materials storage and logistics facilities, strategic resource reserve bases, and other facilities. China's livelihood sector contains great investment potential; we should focus on promoting investment growth in education, healthcare, elderly care, childcare, and other service areas and effectively implement large-scale skill enhancement training actions. Second, vigorously promote social investment growth. The key to promoting social investment is ensuring that enterprise investment yields profit returns and capital can maintain and increase its value, which are basic characteristics and laws of capital operation. We should eliminate market access barriers, steadily expand institutional opening-up, implement special actions for standardizing law enforcement related to enterprises, continuously optimize the business environment, vigorously promote the entrepreneurial spirit, maintain fair competition order, stabilize enterprise investment expectations, and enhance development confidence. Third, investment in new urbanization construction should be strengthened. Implement the deployments of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, promote the system of providing basic public services through household registration at places of permanent residence, and accelerate the citizenization of the agricultural transfer population, which can both expand investment and boost consumption. We should focus on building livable, resilient, smart, and green low-carbon cities, strengthen the renovation of old urban communities and dilapidated housing, and promote the quality improvement of urbanization.
Improve the mechanisms for expanding domestic demand and enhance the driving force for domestic demand development. In response to bottlenecks constraining domestic demand expansion, accelerate the introduction of a batch of landmark reform measures. First, optimize the relationship between investment and consumption proportions. Better combining "investment in things" with "investment in people" improves the mechanism whereby fiscal expenditure growth in livelihood areas exceeds overall fiscal expenditure growth, strengthens investment in livelihood areas, and enhances people's sense of gain, happiness, and security. Second, advance income distribution system reform. Focus on "raising the lower end and expanding the middle," continuously narrow income gaps, and strengthen the middle-income group. Increase the proportion of resident income in national income distribution and the proportion of labor remuneration in primary distribution. Improve redistribution adjustment mechanisms such as taxation, social security, and transfer payments. Continuously improve laws, regulations, and supporting policies, support the development of public welfare and charity undertakings, and fully tap the supplementary regulatory role of tertiary distribution on the distribution pattern. Third, deepen investment and financing system reform. Investment in technological innovation, green transformation, livelihood development, and other areas differs from traditional investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, and real estate, posing new requirements for investment and financing models. We should establish a long-term mechanism for government investment to support the construction of basic, public welfare, and long-term major projects. Develop the five major areas of science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance. Focus on creating a modern financial institution and market system, optimize the financing structure, and clear channels for funds to enter the real economy.
I admire China's leadership for such insight into economic shortcomings and their plans for overcoming them. I just wish our leaders down here in Australia were nearly so competent.