‘Two sessions’ 2024: China signals more fiscal pump-priming as economic doubts linger

Politburo vows to make the policy environment ‘transparent and predictable’ ahead of annual parliamentary meetings

The message comes as investors question China’s business climate in the face of multiple challenges

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Thursday’s Politburo meeting marked the final gathering of the 24-member team of top officials before China’s annual parliamentary meetings begin next week. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 4:48pm, 29 Feb 2024Updated: 9:21pm, 29 Feb 2024

China’s Communist Party leadership has signalled it plans to double down on fiscal measures to support the economy amid lingering uncertainty about the country’s business climate.

At a Thursday meeting of the Politburo, the party’s top decision-makers vowed to improve policy consistency and make the policy environment “transparent and predictable”, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

The meeting marked the final gathering of the 24-member body before China’s annual parliamentary meetings, also known as the “two sessions”, which start next week.

The meeting was devoted to reviewing the government work report to be released at the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature. The report is expected to detail the country’s economic growth rate target as well as priorities and plans for 2024.

A statement from the Politburo meeting said that “proactive fiscal policy must be moderately strengthened and improved in quality and efficiency, while prudent monetary policy should be flexible, moderate, precise and effective”.

It added that China should improve the consistency of the direction of its macro-policy and create a “stable, transparent and predictable policy environment”.