China’s economic policymakers doubling down on ‘stability’ for 2022 in the face of ‘threefold pressure’
- Annual central economic work conference wrapped up on Friday with leaders stressing the importance of boosting demand with ‘front-loaded’ policy support
- Beijing hints it will ease up on regulation of big private players after a heavy-handed crackdown this year jolted domestic markets, and excessive capital growth may instead be curbed with a type of ‘traffic-light’ mechanism
Beijing has pledged to “front-load” policies to shore up the economy next year, as leaders remained on high alert against strong headwinds at the tone-setting annual central economic work conference that concluded on Friday.
“We are facing threefold pressure, including contraction of demand, supply shocks and weaker expectations,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing an official statement from the conference. “Our policy support should be front-loaded appropriately.”
The emphasis on “stability” – the word appeared 25 times in the 4,700-word statement – comes as leaders are trying to project a positive image to the world ahead of February’s Beijing Winter Olympics, and with their sights set on the 20th National Party Congress – a key political gala that will usher in twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle for the Communist Party in the second half of next year.
“We need to concentrate on stabilising the macroeconomy, keeping the economic operation within a reasonable range and maintaining social stability,” the statement said.
The conference took place after China’s 25-member Politburo, chaired by President Xi Jinping, said on Monday that it would “put the word of stability as the top priority” in its economic decision-making for 2022.
“[The meeting] emphasised the downward pressure – the notion of ‘threefold pressure’ was very rare in the past,” said Zhou Hao, a senior emerging markets economist with Commerzbank.