China's policy makers will work to engineer stable yet rapid economic growth in 2007 by beefing up their macroeconomic control measures, according to the conclusions of an annual work meeting published on Thursday.
In a document summing up the decisions reached at the Central Economic Work Conference held from December 5-7, the ruling Communist Party said that Beijing would make avoiding any big swings in the economy a priority. An abridged version of the statement was issued by state radio and television and a more detailed one was carried by the official Xinhua news agency.
"The primary task for the coming year is to enhance and improve macroeconomic controls to maintain and expand the momentum of economic growth," the statement said. The government would maintain a stable monetary and fiscal policy in the coming year, it said, while it would still carry out steps to fine-tune the economy if needed.
The statement added that promoting greater balance in the country's international payments - by actively expanding its imports and keeping export growth in check - would be an important part of its efforts to ensure stable growth.
To bring greater balance to the economy, it would also seek to stimulate domestic consumption while remaining vigilant on investment growth, the main target of many of China's tightening measures this year, which have included two interest rate rises and a crackdown on investment projects.
Many economists have stressed the need for China to adjust its growth model to rely more on consumption and less on investment and exports. The meeting's conclusions serve as a basic guide for specific work plans by the government's various ministries and agencies.
The central bank was first to weigh in with its priorities for next year, saying on its Web site (www.pbc.gov.cn) that it would continue to press ahead with currency reforms in 2007, while keeping monetary policy stable.
"We will further improve the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism, enhance and improve foreign exchange management, and promote basic balance in international payments," the People's Bank of China said in a statement.
The central bank added that it would fine-tune its monetary policy measures to help keep money supply growth at a reasonable pace, and to contribute to "good and rapid" growth in the economy. The summary of the central work meeting did not list any specific growth targets for the coming year.
However, Zheng Xinli, an economist for the Party's policy research office, said on Wednesday that the meeting had set a benchmark of 8 percent growth for next year.
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