/PRNewswire/ —As Chinese leaders gather in Beijing for the annual Central Conference on Economic Activity, CGTN published an article outlining how China’s 2026 economic agenda underscores the country’s commitment to strengthening domestic demand, developing innovation and deepening high-level opening, signaling renewed confidence and providing greater certainty for global development.
Chinese leaders gathered in Beijing on December 10 and 11 for the annual Central Conference on Economic Activity, which is widely regarded as a compass for China’s economic trajectory.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the meeting and delivered a keynote speech in which he reviewed economic performance in 2025, assessed emerging challenges and outlined priorities for 2026, the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).
The leaders stressed that next year’s policies will focus on “achieving progress while ensuring stability” and “improving both quality and efficiency”, outlining eight key tasks including supporting domestic demand, promoting innovation, deepening reforms and opening up to the world, promoting low-carbon development and improving people’s livelihoods. The meeting sends a clear signal: China enters 2026 with confidence, policy clarity and renewed dynamism, bringing stability and opportunity to the global economy.
Domestic demand as an engine of growth
At the meeting, it was emphasized that the main economic priority for next year is the increase in domestic consumption. Policy makers plan to take concrete measures to increase spending, optimize the “two new” policies – which relate to large-scale equipment upgrades and replacement of consumer goods – and remove undue restrictions in the consumer sector to unlock the potential of service consumption.
China’s consumer market remains resilient in 2025, data shows. In the first three quarters, final consumption expenditure contributed 53.5 percent to GDP growth, an increase of nine percentage points over the previous year. From January to October, retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 40 trillion yuan ($5.7 trillion), representing a year-on-year increase of 4.3 percent, surpassing last year’s growth.
In an exclusive interview with CGTN, CEO Kristalina Georgieva highlighted the importance of domestic consumption in supporting economic resilience while explaining the IMF’s recent upgrade to China’s GDP forecast for 2025. She praised China’s commitment to maintaining an open and responsible economy, pointing out that this supports the country’s focus on consumption in its new five-year plan.
Innovation drives new growth
Innovation will remain a key driver of development. China aims to create international innovation centers in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Policies will focus on supporting business-led innovation, strengthening intellectual property protection in emerging industries, expanding service sector capacity and supporting the development of artificial intelligence through improved governance and integration of technology and finance.
According to the 2025 Global Innovation Index, China ranked in the top ten for the first time and remains the highest ranked among 36 upper-middle-income economies. Its innovation clusters are world leaders, with the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Canton cluster ranking first in the world. Bloomberg Economics projects that China’s high-tech sector, including artificial intelligence, will grow from 14.3 percent of GDP in 2023 to nearly 19 percent by 2026.
An open China provides security to the world
Opening up remains one of China’s strategic advantages, and the conference affirmed that China will expand institutional and autonomous opening up in the service sector, optimize the layout of free trade zones, and develop the Hainan Free Trade Port.
China’s foreign trade has shown resilience this year despite global challenges. From January to November, imports and exports totaled 41.21 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.6 percent over the previous year.
A recent global survey by CGTN shows that 86.7 percent of respondents believe China’s continued efforts to boost domestic consumption will create significant opportunities for international companies. Meanwhile, 89.1 percent of respondents say China’s continued expansion of opening to the world will create wider development opportunities around the world.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-12-12/How-does-China-set-tone-for-economic-work-in-2026–1J1srzNISOY/p.html