![\"(Photo:](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/c1_5825324_800.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Photo: AFP) <\/p>\n
BEIJING – China\u2019s ruling Communist Party said on Thursday the country has to \u201cvigorously boost consumption\u201d and \u201cconsolidate national security\u201d in the next five years, state media reported, as a key gathering concluded in Beijing.<\/p>\n
The four days of closed-door meetings began on Monday and involved high-ranking officials discussing long-term strategies for the 15th Five-Year Plan, which starts next year.<\/p>\n
The talks come at an uncertain time for the world\u2019s second-largest economy, beset by sluggish domestic spending, a protracted crisis in the property sector and a turbulent trade war with the United States.<\/p>\n
As the gathering ended on Thursday, leaders vowed to strive for \u201crapid economic development\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEfforts must be made to vigorously boost consumption, expand effective investment and resolutely eliminate bottlenecks,\u201d said a readout published by the state news agency Xinhua.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s economy has failed to fully rebound post-pandemic, with official data on Monday showing that it expanded 4.8% year-on-year in the third quarter, the slowest growth since the same period last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of boosting consumption, it\u2019s no surprise that it now carries greater weight as a driver of domestic demand,\u201d said Yue Su from the Economist Intelligence Unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can \u2026 expect investment to focus more on consumption-related sectors and activities, such as improved urban planning, public services, and elderly care,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Observers were closely watching this week\u2019s gathering of the Central Committee \u2014 an elite body with around 200 members and 170 alternates \u2014 for signs of the government\u2019s core policy objectives.<\/p>\n
The next five-year plan, which like its predecessors will encompass political, economic, social and environmental goals, provide a roadmap through to 2030 and should be approved in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stands out is first and foremost continuity,\u201d said Bert Hofman of the National University of Singapore after reviewing the readout.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew development pattern, high quality growth, technological self-sufficiency \u2014 all were prominent in the 14th Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted though there were some \u201cimportant nuances\u201d.<\/p>\n
For example, \u201cin the section on domestic demand: before the focus was on supply creating demand, now it starts with demand creating supply\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Good at fighting\u2019<\/p>\n
China\u2019s leaders also vowed on Thursday to solidify national security, according to Xinhua.<\/p>\n
The country must \u201cdare to fight and be good at fighting, and bravely face major tests of high winds and waves and even perilous situations\u201d, the readout said, without specifying details.<\/p>\n
As China\u2019s military might has grown over the last few decades, tensions with the United States and others in the Asia-Pacific region have risen.<\/p>\n
China insists self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory, and has threatened to seize the democratic island by force.<\/p>\n
Several countries are ensnared in longstanding territorial disputes with Beijing in the contested South China Sea.<\/p>\n
The military has been the subject of a sweeping graft purge recently, with nine top army officials expelled for having \u201cseriously violated\u201d discipline last week.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Zhang Shengmin, a general in Beijing\u2019s secretive Rocket Force, was named as the replacement vice-chair of the powerful Central Military Commission, one of the country\u2019s top military posts.<\/p>\n
Going green<\/p>\n
Leaders also vowed to strengthen environmental efforts.<\/p>\n
China is the world\u2019s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but is also a global renewable energy powerhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must continue to deepen pollution prevention\u2026 accelerate the development of a new energy system, actively and steadily advance and achieve carbon peak and accelerate the formation of a green production and lifestyles,\u201d the readout said.<\/p>\n
Beijing in September issued its first ever absolute targets for cutting planet-warming gases.<\/p>\n
By 2035, China will reduce economy-wide emissions by 7\u201310% relative to the year of the country\u2019s peak emissions, believed to be 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Photo: AFP) BEIJING – China\u2019s ruling Communist Party said on Thursday the country has to \u201cvigorously boost consumption\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[79,381,8886,179,18,19,17,83575],"class_list":{"0":"post-141203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-consumption","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-stimulus"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115425191333830279","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}