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China economy
EconomyChina Economy

China’s Politburo targets economic risks to ensure post-pandemic recovery

  • Beijing expresses concern about the breadth and sustainability of national rebound
  • Uneven growth and technological challenges still lurk, top decision-making body says

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The world’s second-biggest economy reported a record 18.3 per cent rise in gross domestic product in the first quarter. Photo: AFP
Frank Tang
The Chinese political leadership has called for the country to double down on tackling its economic weaknesses, including uneven growth, deep-seated financial risks and technological challenges, to ensure that the post-coronavirus recovery continues.

Further regulation of internet platform firms, a continued crackdown on property speculation, more local responsibility for reducing financial risks and protection for the nation’s limited arable land were some of key areas discussed at the meeting on Friday of the 25-member Politburo, the government’s main decision-making body headed by President Xi Jinping.

The call came after the world’s second-biggest economy reported a record 18.3 per cent rise in gross domestic product in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, thanks in good part to the low comparison base resulting from last year’s first-quarter coronavirus-induced contraction.
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Earlier Friday, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that both the official manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ indexes fell more than expected in April, indicating a cooling of economic activity in the first month of the second quarter. Analysts said the data showed that Chinese growth had peaked or was close to doing so, with the pace of activity likely to slow as the year progressed.

The Politburo expressed concern about the breath and sustainability of the rebound.

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“Currently, the economic recovery is uneven and its foundation is still not solid,” the Politburo concluded after its quarterly economic analysis meeting, according to a statement released by state news agency Xinhua.

 “We must make good use of the window of low [economic] pressures to concentrate on supply-side reforms and the removal of obstacles to dual circulation,” it said, referring to the economic strategy adopted last year that relies more on the domestic economy and home-grown innovation for future growth amid the growing economic rivalry with and technological containment efforts by the United States.
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