BEIJING: The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on Tuesday to analyze and study the current economic situation and economic work. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
It was noted at the meeting that the Chinese economy has been off to a robust start this year, with key indicators beating expectations, underscoring its resilience and dynamism, according to Xinhua.
However, the economy still faces difficulties and challenges, and the foundation for the country’s sustained economic recovery needs to be further consolidated, the meeting said. It called for greater efforts and more concrete measures to bolster economic work, per the report.
As the first economy-focused meeting of Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the key meeting in April plays an important role in China’s economic operation, as it summarizes the country’s economic performance in the first quarter and chart the course for the rest of the year, Hu Qimu, a professor at the Maritime Silk Road Institute of Huaqiao University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Efforts should be made to achieve self-reliance and strength in science and technology, and build self-supporting and risk-controllable industrial chains, according to the meeting.
China should implement a more proactive fiscal policy and apply an appropriately accommodative monetary policy in a targeted and effective way, continuously expand domestic demand and optimize supply, the meeting said.
The meeting called for efforts to strengthen the domestic economy and improve domestic and international economic flows so as to get the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) off to a good start.
Among the concrete measures outlined at the meeting, Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, highlighted two aspects: the in-depth implementation of the action to expand capacity and upgrade quality in the service sector and the full implementation of the “AI plus” action.
“The service sector is a vital component of modern industrial system. As projected by the National Development and Reform Commission, the sector’s total scale is projected to surpass 100 trillion yuan ($14.66 trillion) during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. With a series of policy support, this sector will gain fresh momentum and reinforce its role as a strengthening force for the resilience and vitality of the broader economy,” Dong told the Global Times on Tuesday.
In addition, the move to fully implement the “AI plus” initiative, develop new forms of intelligent economy, and improve AI governance is a necessary strategic deployment amid the rapid development of China’s AI field, Dong said, noting that this will contribute to the cultivation of new quality productive forces and boost high-quality development.
The meeting also urged efforts to systematically address external shocks and challenges, enhance energy and resource security, and respond to uncertainties with the certainty of high-quality development.
The key meeting aroused attention from some foreign media as growing geopolitical uncertainties continue to take their toll on global economic growth projections.
“China’s top leaders pledged to counter external shocks and enhance energy security, while highlighting better-than-expected growth so far this year after the Iran war triggered a global oil shock,” Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Reuters also highlighted China’s better-than-expected economic performance in the first quarter this year, noting that it shows “higher resilience than most other economies to the energy and commodity shocks caused by the Iran war.”
China’s GDP grew 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, 0.5 percentage points faster than that of the fourth quarter of 2025, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on April 16. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
