BOFIT Weekly Review 2015/01
China’s leaders map out economic policy for the coming year
China held its annual Central Economic Work Conference in mid-December to chart out fiscal and monetary policy plans. In addition to discussing economic trends of the current year, the conference is supposed to lay out the course of economic policy for the coming year. The final conference statement emphasised the need for continued economic reform to help China adjust to the new lower-growth paradigm. Leaders admitted dealing with the shift was one of the biggest challenges they face in 2015.
As expected, the conference stated China’s top economic goals today are assuring stable growth, identifying new paths to growth and achieving further progress in economic reform. Concrete actions to achieve these goals were not specified in the final statement. In keeping with protocol, the conference did not release the official 2015 GDP growth target. The finalised growth target is typically revealed at the National People’s Congress in the spring. Most observers expect the target to be around 7 %.