China’s leaders meet to map plans for the economy – and the country’s cities
One Gathering, Two Meetings: China Leaders Convene to Address Slowdown, Urbanization
Top Communist Party cadres have gathered in Beijing for two meetings: the usual annual conference to review economic performance and chart out next year’s policies, and a special urban works convention seeking a better approach to develop cities.
For the leadership headed by President Xi Jinping, proper management of China’s urbanisation process is vital to sustaining economic growth and winning the support of the country’s some 270 million migrant workers, who are often not covered by its social welfare system.
The urban work conference could be very interesting, while the economic work conference is unlikely to offer big surprises
“The urban work conference could be very interesting, while the economic work conference is unlikely to offer big surprises,” said Shen Jianguang, chief economist for Mizuho Securities Asia. “The economic work conference addresses concerns mainly for 2016, but decisions made at the urban work conference may affect China’s growth not only next year but also in the next decade.”
The Politburo meeting Xi chaired earlier this week set the tone for next year’s economic priorities, namely to address property inventory, excess capacity, heavy burdens on businesses and financial risks.
For urban development, the Politburo called for the process of giving migrant workers full urban residency status to be sped up.
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“How will China allow farmers to gain more from land deals? How will China help migrant workers settle in cities? The meetings may shed more light on the Chinese leadership’s thinking on these issues,” Shen said.