Key Tasks for Economic Work in 2026

Key Tasks for Economic Work in 2026

XI JINPING

Amid the many demands of economic work in 2026, we must place our focus on the key priorities that will pave the way for progress across the board.

I. Prioritizing the expansion of domestic demand and building a robust domestic market

By promoting consumption and expanding investment in tandem, we can better tap the strengths of China’s enormous market. We should press ahead with special initiatives to boost consumption, launch an income growth plan for both urban and rural residents, and continue to raise minimum basic old-age benefits for rural and non-working urban residents. To adapt to structural shifts in consumer spending, we need to broaden the supply of high-quality goods and services. We should better implement policies on large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-in programs and grant local authorities greater latitude in implementing such policies. All excessive restrictions on consumption should be lifted so as to unlock the spending potential in service industries such as culture, tourism, sports events, catering, and healthcare. Staggered paid leave should be adopted. Further efforts should also be made to improve the consumption environment for inbound tourists, with a view to making China a favored shopping destination.

President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at the Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing, December 10 and 11, 2025. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER YAN YAN

To further raise living standards and sustain growth momentum, we need to halt the decline in investment and ensure a return to stability. To this end, we should increase the central government budget for investment as necessary, step up efforts to implement projects for major national strategies and for enhancing security capacity in key areas, and increase central government subsidies for relevant investment. We must improve the management of local government special-purpose bonds to ensure that a greater share of such bonds is allocated to fund project construction, with this share listed as a separate budget item. New types of policy-backed financial instruments should also continue to play their role in effectively driving investment through various channels. We should explore formulating overall government investment plans and expand the share of government investment going to public wellbeing initiatives. We must continue to harness the full potential of our cities, establishing sustainable investment and financing models and delivering high-quality urban renewal. To invigorate private investment, we need to follow through on relevant policies and measures.

II. Pursuing innovation-driven development and cultivating new growth drivers at a faster pace

We should stay committed to steering industrial upgrading with innovations in science and technology and continue to bring forth new quality productive forces. Plans should be formulated to promote the integrated development of education, science and technology, and human resources. We should scale up long-term, stable support for basic research, increase self-sufficiency in scientific and technological infrastructure, and enhance our planning in strategic and frontier fields in a bid to achieve more original breakthroughs.

President Xi Jinping visits a national information technology innovation park in Beijing E-Town on the morning of February 9, 2026. During his two-day inspection tour in Beijing from February 9 to 10, he met and spoke with primary-level officials and residents. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER YAN YAN

We should develop Beijing (the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region), Shanghai (the Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into international centers for scientific and technological innovation and world-class engines of innovation. The principal role of enterprises in innovation should be reinforced, with support provided to demonstrate and apply new technologies and products across a broader range of new scenarios. We should further develop pilot-scale testing platforms, improve intellectual property protection systems in emerging fields, and speed up the translation of technological advances into productivity gains.

An action plan should be drawn up to improve the capacity and quality of the service sector. We need to roll out a new round of initiatives to drive high-quality development in key industrial chains and promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. We should also foster emerging pillar industries such as integrated circuits, aviation and aerospace, and biomedicine and nurture industries such as future energy and embodied artificial intelligence (AI). The AI Plus Initiative should be advanced and expanded, while AI governance should be strengthened. We need to develop innovative financial services for science and technology and grow the ranks of leading venture capital institutions and technology enterprises.

III. Furthering key reforms to generate new momentum for high-quality development

We should formulate regulations on developing a unified national market and issue lists of dos and don’ts for local government investment attraction. Rat race competition must be thoroughly addressed by strengthening production regulation, standard-based guidance, pricing compliance and enforcement, quality supervision, and measures against monopolies and unfair competition, all with the aim of fostering a sound market environment.

Active steps should be taken to put underused and idle resources and assets to good use. We need to craft and implement plans for further deepening state-owned enterprises and state-capital reform, refine supporting regulations and policies for the Private Sector Promotion Law, and promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products. We should vigorously promote the entrepreneurial spirit and facilitate the healthy growth of a new generation of entrepreneurs. Efforts should be intensified to clear overdue payments owed to enterprises and deliver win-win outcomes for platform companies, third-party merchants, and gig workers.

We should expand pilot reforms for the market-based allocation of production factors, further electricity sector reform, and steadily advance pricing reform for public utilities such as water, gas, and heating to ensure the sustainable operation of public utility enterprises. We should advance zero-based budgeting reforms and raise the share of state capital gains that are remitted to the government. We should improve both the structure of government transfer payments and local tax systems. We should properly regulate competition among commercial banks and advance the consolidation of small and medium-sized financial institutions, while improving their performance. We need to deepen comprehensive investment and financing reforms in the capital market and raise the share of both direct and equity financing.

IV. Pressing ahead with opening up and advancing mutually beneficial cooperation across multiple fields

As the global economic and trade landscape is being reshaped, it is vital that we leverage opening up as a means to boost cooperation and promote unimpeded domestic and international economic flows. With this in mind, we should steadily advance opening up at the institutional level, proactively open the service sector wider in an orderly way, optimize the layout and scope of pilot free trade zones to boost their capacity for innovation-driven development, and make solid strides in developing the Hainan Free Trade Port. We should advance the integrated development of trade and investment and the integration of domestic and foreign trade, while expanding and upgrading the “cross-border e-commerce plus overseas warehouses” model. We should also encourage and support service exports and actively develop digital and green trade.

We should continue reforming the institutional framework for promoting foreign investment and encourage foreign-funded companies to reinvest in China and expand production locally. Guidance should be provided to ensure that the overseas layout of industrial and supply chains remains rational and orderly. Comprehensive overseas services should also be improved. We need to seize opportunities for cooperation as countries of the Global South pursue modernization and work for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative. We should continue negotiations to conclude more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements and implement opening up measures such as zero-tariff treatment for African countries that have diplomatic relations with China. We should take well-ordered steps to streamline and regulate China’s development zones, industrial parks, exhibitions, and forums of all types.

V. Advancing coordinated development and promoting greater urban-rural integration and regional connectivity

We need to drive coordinated progress in urbanization centering on county seats and all-around rural revitalization. To achieve this, we should improve infrastructure planning and public resource allocation at the county level, take appropriate steps to address modern amenity gaps in rural areas, foster distinctive rural industries, and promote the high-quality development of county economies. The total area of China’s farmland must be kept above the specified red line. We should improve the quality of cultivated land, keep a firm focus on grain production, and implement coordinated policies on grain production, purchasing, storage, and imports. All this will help keep the prices of grain and other major agricultural products at reasonable levels while sustaining rural income growth. We should continue to consolidate and expand our poverty alleviation gains and carry out regular assistance programs under the rural revitalization strategy in conjunction with relevant initiatives, so as to guard against any large-scale lapse or relapse into poverty.

On the morning of February 10, 2026, President Xi Jinping chats with citizens at a Spring Festival market at the Longfusi commercial area in Dongcheng District, Beijing. He visited primary-level officials and residents during his two-day inspection tour in Beijing from February 9 to 10. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER YAN YAN

All local governments need to have an accurate understanding of their respective roles in China’s overall development, reinforce their core functions, and better leverage their comparative advantages. We should devote greater energy to advancing critical reforms, enhancing policy empowerment, and ensuring the supply of production factors, all with the purpose of supporting major provincial economies in assuming greater responsibility for development. We should encourage efforts to develop the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into world-class city clusters and continue to help enhance their overall competitiveness. We should advance high-standard, high-quality development of the Xiong’an New Area. The development capacity of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone should also be boosted, and faster growth should be promoted in city clusters along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and in other areas. We should promote more coordinated and interconnected development of key city clusters. To this end, we should improve the mechanisms for coordinated planning, industrial collaboration, and benefit sharing, carry out national initiatives for industry relocation, development, and upgrading, and boost cooperation across administrative divisions. In addition, overall planning for major bays should be enhanced to promote the high-quality development of the marine economy.

VI. Staying committed to our carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals and advancing the green transition across all areas

We must make coordinated efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development, and boost economic growth, all while strengthening our green development drivers. We should do more to advance energy-conservation and carbon-reduction upgrades in key industries and steadily work toward achieving peak coal and petroleum consumption. We should draw up an outline of the plan for strengthening China’s energy sector, move faster to develop a new type of energy system, and ensure that new electricity demand is met primarily through new energy sources. We should build smart grids and microgrids, promote more extensive use of green electricity, and develop a number of zero-carbon industrial parks and factories. We need to commit greater efforts to developing the national carbon emissions trading market. We should look into establishing a national fund for low-carbon transition and foster new growth drivers such as hydrogen power and green fuels.

We should take comprehensive steps to treat solid waste and step up the recycling of recyclable materials. Further headway should be made in keeping our skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean, and efforts should be redoubled to treat new pollutants. We must secure solid advances in the crucial stage of the national afforestation and shelterbelt program in northwest, north, and northeast China. We also need to strengthen the treatment of key lakes and integrate and optimize protected areas. We should improve the systems for meteorological monitoring, forecasting, and early warning, move faster to close infrastructure gaps in flood prevention, drainage, and disaster response in north China, and enhance our capacity to respond to extreme weather.

VII. Putting public wellbeing first and striving to deliver solid outcomes for the people

We must redouble commitment to our employment-first policy orientation, implementing the initiative for creating more stable, better-quality job opportunities and working to ensure stable employment for key groups such as college graduates and rural migrant workers. We should provide stronger guidance and support for business startups and carry out training programs aimed at upgrading vocational skills. Policies should be adopted to encourage people in flexible employment and new forms of employment to participate in social security programs. In response to structural changes in school-age populations, we should adjust the distribution and structure of educational resources and increase both the supply of places in regular senior secondary schools and enrollment in quality undergraduate programs.

We need to optimize the centralized procurement of medicines, further reform medical insurance payment models, and improve policies on the use of surplus funds. Greater operational support should also be provided to county, district, and community-level medical institutions. We should carry out an initiative to expand and improve rehabilitation care services and advance insurance schemes for long-term care. Greater care and assistance should be provided for seniors living alone, people with physical or cognitive impairments, and other groups in need. We should roll out supporting policy measures including childcare subsidies, foster positive attitudes toward marriage and parenthood, and work to stabilize the number of births. We should take solid steps to ensure workplace safety, prevent, mitigate, and provide relief for disasters, and safeguard food and drug safety. Public psychological counseling services should be strengthened, and efforts should be made to identify and resolve conflicts at the community level.

VIII. Taking active and prudent steps to mitigate risks in key areas and prevent systemic risks

We need to better coordinate policies for guarding against risks and driving growth, so as to further enhance our development resilience. Further efforts must be made to stabilize the real estate market. We need to introduce city-specific policies to control the number of new real estate projects, reduce housing inventory and improve supply, and encourage the purchase of commodity housing stock primarily for use as government-subsidized housing. Reform of the housing provident fund system should be deepened, and well-ordered steps should be taken to promote the development of quality homes. We should better leverage the white list to ensure timely delivery of housing projects, support the reasonable financing needs of real estate enterprises, and prevent debt default risks. Faster progress should be secured in creating a new development model for the real estate sector.

Active and systematic measures should be taken to address local government debt risks. We should urge local governments to take the initiative in resolving their debts. At the same time, we should increase financial and fiscal support to optimize the ways of conducting debt restructuring and replacement and adopt multiple measures to mitigate operational debt risks in local government financing platforms. The indicators used for debt monitoring and evaluation should be optimized, and a long-term mechanism should be established for unified government debt management. We should prudently defuse risks in small and medium-sized local financial institutions, drawing on a full range of resources and means for risk handling.

This is an excerpt from President Xi Jinping’s speech at the Central Economic Work Conference on December 10, 2025.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 4, 2026)