AFP :
China ended a major annual economic meeting Friday with promises to liberalise investment in state-owned sectors, control real estate speculation and improve the “flexibility” of the yuan’s exchange rate, as the country’s economy shows signs of stabilisation.
The Central Economic Work Conference, headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, began Wednesday in Beijing and focused on setting out economic priorities for 2017 – a critical period for China which is expected to select its new leadership late next year.
The meeting ended with promises to target Beijing’s economic bugbears, including stepping up efforts to “prevent asset bubbles”, deepen “supply-side structural reform”, and maintain a “prudent and neutral” monetary policy, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The country will take “substantial steps” to reform ownership in a number of state-owned sectors including utilities and the military, Xinhua said, adding that partial privatization may be an option.
It will also promote the principle that “housing is for living, not for speculation” the agency reported, noting that the government would put limits on credit for investment properties as the country faces concerns about its overheated real estate market. China’s yuan will be kept “basically stable at an equilibrium level in 2017, while improving the flexibility of exchange rate,” according to Xinhua.
Earlier in the day the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, issued a commentary in a bid to calm fears the yuan might plunge after the US central bank on Wednesday hiked interest rates.
China ended a major annual economic meeting Friday with promises to liberalise investment in state-owned sectors, control real estate speculation and improve the “flexibility” of the yuan’s exchange rate, as the country’s economy shows signs of stabilisation.
The Central Economic Work Conference, headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, began Wednesday in Beijing and focused on setting out economic priorities for 2017 – a critical period for China which is expected to select its new leadership late next year.
The meeting ended with promises to target Beijing’s economic bugbears, including stepping up efforts to “prevent asset bubbles”, deepen “supply-side structural reform”, and maintain a “prudent and neutral” monetary policy, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The country will take “substantial steps” to reform ownership in a number of state-owned sectors including utilities and the military, Xinhua said, adding that partial privatization may be an option.
It will also promote the principle that “housing is for living, not for speculation” the agency reported, noting that the government would put limits on credit for investment properties as the country faces concerns about its overheated real estate market. China’s yuan will be kept “basically stable at an equilibrium level in 2017, while improving the flexibility of exchange rate,” according to Xinhua.
Earlier in the day the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, issued a commentary in a bid to calm fears the yuan might plunge after the US central bank on Wednesday hiked interest rates.
