The People's Bank of China Financial Times commented: will adhere to the principle of putting domestic demand first.

The Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 10th to 11th. The conference focused on "how to view the current situation" and "what to do next year", guiding China's economy towards high-quality development. Standing at the historical intersection point of the conclusion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the planning of the "15th Five-Year Plan", the conference emphasized the continuous expansion of domestic demand and optimization of supply, identifying "adhering to domestic demand as the main driver and building a strong domestic market" as the top priority task for next year's economic work. In recent years, domestic demand has become the main force driving economic growth. From 2021 to 2024, the average contribution of domestic demand to economic growth reached 86.4%, with final consumption contributing an average of 56.2% to economic growth, an increase of 8.6 percentage points compared to the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. Globally, China ranks as the world's second-largest consumer market, the largest online retail market, and the second-largest importer. In the future, the feature of the domestic market leading the national economic cycle in China will become more prominent. In the face of a more challenging and complex development environment both domestically and internationally, only by adhering to a focus on the domestic market, expanding domestic demand comprehensively, and building a strong domestic market, can we enhance the proactive nature of development and firmly grasp the initiative in the changing international landscape. Looking back on the recent Central Economic Work Conferences, the strategic position of expanding domestic demand has been continuously elevated. At the end of 2021, the implementation of the strategy to expand domestic demand was included as part of the requirements for prudent and effective macroeconomic policies in the national economic work deployment. In the following years, expanding domestic demand was listed as one of the top two economic work priorities in the conference deployments. In the recommendations for the "15th Five-Year Plan", "adhering to the strategic cornerstone of expanding domestic demand" also holds an important position. Focusing on next year's economic and social development goals, strengthening the domestic circulation, and building a strong domestic market are imperative at this historical juncture. Stabilizing the stability of the domestic circulation against the uncertainty of the international circulation by adhering to the leading position of domestic demand is necessary. Adhering to domestic demand as the main driver and comprehensively expanding domestic demand, we must vigorously boost household consumption. Consumption is the ultimate demand, the key link and important engine for facilitating the domestic circulation, and has sustained driving force for economic growth. The foundation of "being able to consume" must be solidified. The Central Economic Work Conference proposed for the first time to develop and implement plans to increase urban and rural residents' income, complemented by special actions to stimulate consumption, stabilize and expand residents' income from the source, consolidate the foundation of consumption capacity, and fundamentally restore and enhance residents' consumption confidence. Market environment conducive to "daring to consume" must be optimized. The conference focused on optimizing the implementation of "two-fold" projects, clearing unreasonable restrictions in the consumption sector, and striving to create a transparent, fair, and safe consumption environment to fully unleash the suppressed potential purchasing power. Diverse consumption scenarios conducive to "willing to consume" must be created. The conference adheres to the trend of consumption development, emphasizes expanding the supply of high-quality goods and services to cultivate and expand consumer nascent growth points, constantly expanding new space for domestic demand growth, injecting strong endogenous power for sustained and healthy economic development. Adhering to domestic demand as the main driver and comprehensively expanding domestic demand, we must promote the stabilization and rebound of investment. Stabilizing investment is an important support for boosting domestic demand. The leveraging role of government investment must be played. According to the requirements and deployment of the conference on investment for central and local governments, as well as optimizing "two-fold" projects and leveraging the role of new types of policy-oriented financial instruments, precision and effectiveness of investment must be strengthened, driving further optimization of investment structure from top to bottom, tapping into the potential of social investment. Collective efforts of private investment must be encouraged. The conference calls for effectively stimulating the vitality of private investment by creating a fair competition environment for private capital, breaking hidden barriers, and attracting private capital to participate in major projects. Emphasizing high-quality advancement of urban renewal is important. The fundamental purpose of stabilizing investment is to enhance the sense of attainment, happiness, and security for all people. Implementing the conference requirements, directing more funds towards urban renewal in areas related to people's livelihood, can effectively empower high-quality economic and social development and continually unlock investment potential. Ninety percent of success lies in implementation for every ten percent of planning. Placing emphasis on adhering to domestic demand as the main driver is a profound insight by the Party and the state into the current economic situation. It is necessary to fully implement the overall requirements and policy orientation for next year's economic work, accelerate the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system, establish a virtuous cycle where consumption and investment mutually promote each other, and transform the potential of the super-large-scale market into real growth momentum. This article is reprinted from the Financial Times, GMTEight Editor: Chen Wenfang.