MNI POLICY: China To Seek Higher-Quality Growth In 2021-2025

China will aim for sustainable and healthy economic growth over the next five years by improving the quality and efficiency of its economy through further reform and by lifting consumption, said Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe of the National Development and Reform Commission.

"Development is the foundation and key to solving all the problems," Ning said at a Friday briefing following the fifth plenum of the 19th CPC Committee, a key meeting that sets out the ruling party's plan for 2021-2025. The NDRC will develop quantitative targets and specific indicators to be presented to the National People's Congress, he said.

President Xi Jinping's "dual-circulation" model is a long-term strategy and not a temporary measure, said Han Wenxiu, the deputy director of the office of the Central Leading Group for Finance and Economics, at the same briefing.

China will strengthen its core technological competencies and maintain the safety and reliability of its production chain and deepen supply side reform to increase domestic demand, Han said.

The mechanism for raising salaries will be improved to target low-income earners and expand mid-income groups, Ning said. Improved taxation, social protection, and fiscal transfers will help income distribution, he said.

Turning to specific ways to boost consumption, Ning said China would encourage car purchases based on usage, implement paid leave, and aim for healthy growth in the housing market.

According to Han, the improvements in the economy would make the country a destination for global resources and expand its exports and imports, use of foreign capital and outbound investments.

Despite the cross currents buffeting globalisation, the economic ties between China and the U.S. are determined by the complementarity of their economic structures, Han said. Seeking to decouple from each other is unrealistic, he added.