Tourism market sees strong recovery as domestic holiday begins.

Top leadership urges efforts to keep the economy running

BEIJING: Moving on from a strong economic rebound, China’s top leadership has called for cool heads over the impressive growth to put more focus on deepening structural reform for balanced recovery in the long term.

Though China’s economy has got off to a good start this year, the central leadership stressed that the country’s first-quarter data should be viewed dialectically.

“The current economic recovery is still unbalanced and the foundation not solid,” noted the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

China’s economy grew 18.3% year on year in the first quarter of 2021, as strong domestic and foreign demands powered recovery from a low base in early 2020 when Covid-19 stalled the world’s second-largest economy.

Soberly aware that the double-digit growth was fuelled by base effect, policymakers underscored more efforts to deepen supply-side structural reform and remove the impediments to domestic and international circulations as China faced “a window of opportunities” at a time when there is less pressure to maintain steady growth.

Domestically, while most sectors have emerged from the epidemic impacts faster and stronger than expected, some are still feeling the pinch.

Official data showed China’s first-quarter manufacturing investment of 2020 and 2021 was down 2% on average from the 2019 level.

Recovery of consumption, an important pillar of economic growth, also needs further consolidation. Other challenges include pushing industrial upgrading, keeping stability in the property market, defusing financial risks and advancing plans towards carbon neutrality, along with coping with increasing uncertainties in the global market.

Friday’s meeting detailed requirements to address such issues, vowing to implement macro policies with precision while maintaining their continuity, stability and sustainability.

It urged efforts to maintain stable expectations, keep the economy running within an appropriate range, and ensure it reaches a higher level of equilibrium during the course of the recovery.