The Central Economic Work Conference was held from 10 to 12 December in Beijing. Xi Jinping attended the conference and offered a summary of the economic work in 2019 and an analysis of both the current economic situation and future economic activity in 2020. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang discussed the specifics of next year’s work on the economy. After praising the Party for “implementing the Party Central Committee’s policy decisions and deployments, insisting on the overall tone of making progress while ensuring stability, insisting on taking supply-side structural reform as the main theme, and promoting high-quality development” in 2019, the conference set several key goals for economic policy in 2020. First, the meeting advocated “unswerving implementation of the new development ideology.” It stressed that, in order to develop in this new era, it is necessary to “unswervingly implement the new development ideology of innovation, coordination, greening, opening, and sharing [the benefits], and to promote high-quality development. Second, it emphasised, “determinedly waging the ‘three tough battles’” (against poverty, pollution, and economic instability). Third, it emphasised “ensuring that the people’s livelihood, especially the basic livelihood of the masses in straitened circumstances, is effectively guaranteed and improved.” Fourth, it called for “continuing to implement an energetic fiscal policy and a stable and steady monetary policy.” Fifth, it called for “striving hard to push for high-quality development.” Finally, it called for “deepening economic system reform.” The conference also called for “improving and strengthening the ‘six stable’ (六稳) actions,” “relying on reform to optimize the business environment,” and “drawing up and implementing a three-year action plan for state enterprise reform,” which would include “optimising the environment for privately-run economic development,” among myriad other measures.
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