There are also plans to improve food security, strengthen anti-monopoly measures, tackle housing problems and reach peak carbon emissions by 2035.

China policymakers say Beijing will continue ‘necessary support’ for economy

“The CEWC readout this year is the most interesting and notable since 2016, when Xi Jinping used the conference to formally kick off his financial de-risking campaign,” Michael Hirson, head of China at the US-based Eurasia Group, wrote in a note.

“There is not a similar dominant theme this year or discrete shift in policy, but an unusually clear prioritisation and articulation of Xi’s economic and geopolitical agenda as Beijing charts its course for the post-pandemic future, particularly boosting domestic innovation and reducing reliance on US technologies.”

Larry Hu, chief China economist from Macquarie Group, said in a note: “Other than the curb on big tech [anti-monopoly], the rest are all under the so-called dual circulation, which has two implications: self-sufficiency and domestic demand. Beijing adopted such a strategy because it views a decoupling between China and the US as its biggest long-term challenge.

“As such, Beijing has set ‘security” and ‘growth’ as the top two priorities under its long-term growth strategy, which underpins the eight major tasks above.”

Beijing’s policies to boost innovation include a 10-year plan to establish research and innovation centres to tackle problems such as its dependence on external supplies of items such as semiconductors, a key weakness in its technological competition with the US.

While China’s overall expenditure on research and development rose to 2.2 per cent of GDP last year – slightly lower than the 2.8 per cent in the US – just 6 per cent of its R&D expenditure went to basic research, which was much lower than an average of 15 per cent among developed countries, according to government data.

It also plans to focus on problems with the supply chain by solving technological “bottlenecks” and focusing on its “unique advantages” to reduce reliance on the US and other countries.

Beijing embraces demand-side reform policy over stimulus to boost economy

“This should be viewed as a long shot, especially for the foreseeable future, but shouldn’t be completely dismissed – the goal is aspirational but will help shape China’s policy agenda, including in areas such as data governance. It marks ambition by Xi but also a fear of being isolated as the incoming Biden administration looks to build coalitions to pressure China on key trade and technology policies,” Hirson said.

“Both Biden and [Donald] Trump view the rise of China as a challenge to the United States. However, there is a difference between Biden and Trump’s strategies towards China. Biden opposes Trump’s unilateral containment and anti-globalisation ideas, and hopes to restrict China through alliances,” Ren said.

In spite of striking an upbeat tone, Friday’s statement also identified several risks to the economy, from soaring debt levels and concerns about banks’ liquidity to rising bond defaults and unstable rental markets across the country.

China’s debt-to-GDP ratio this year could surge by 25 percentage points to 270 per cent from last year, partly due to measures to stimulate the economic recovery this year.

Beijing intends to lower the overall credit growth next year to match nominal GDP growth.