A worker catches up on auto parts orders at a factory in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province on June 24, 2024. Photo: VCG

China must remain firmly committed to accomplishing the goals for this year's economic and social development. This was highlighted in the communique of the third plenum, a key meeting convened in Beijing to draw up the next blueprint for China's economy, among other key topics, released on Thursday. 

Analysts said that they remain optimistic about achieving the annual social and economic development targets with incentives from the third plenum and anticipated policy introductions, which will greatly release China's growth potential.

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded its four-day third plenary session, also known as the third plenum, on Thursday with the release of a communique. At the session, an analysis of the present situation and the tasks we face was conducted, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"It was highlighted that we must remain firmly committed to accomplishing the goals for this year's economic and social development. In accordance with the Party Central Committee's decisions and plans concerning economic work, we will ensure effective implementation of macro policies, strive to expand domestic demand, develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions, move faster to foster new drivers of foreign trade, take solid steps toward green and low-carbon development, ensure and improve the people's wellbeing, and consolidate and build upon our achievements in poverty alleviation. 

"We will review and assess the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and make sound preparations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30)," said the communique.

"It was stated that we must ensure both development and security. To this end, we will implement various measures for preventing and defusing risks in real estate, local government debt, small and medium financial institutions, and other key areas.

"We will make sure that responsibilities for workplace safety are strictly fulfilled and refine the measures for monitoring, preventing and controlling natural disasters, especially floods. We will strengthen the network for preventing and controlling public security risks so as to safeguard social stability." 

"We will improve public opinion guidance and effectively deal with risks in the ideological domain. We will properly respond to external risks and challenges, strive to play a leading role in global governance, and actively work to foster a favorable external environment," read the communique.

The communique plays a considerably positive role in stabilizing expectations. This is a strong signal for successfully meeting the macroeconomic targets set at the beginning of the year, Li Chang'an, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The Government Work Report released in March proposed the main projected targets for development in 2024, including realizing GDP growth of about 5 percent, creating more than 12 million new urban jobs, and growth in personal incomes in step with economic growth.

China's GDP expanded 5 percent in the first half of 2024, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

"In the second half of the year, if China wants to achieve the economic and social development goals of the year, it must introduce stronger policies to stabilize economic growth, stabilize the property market, boost the stock market, support the development of the private economy, and improve the employment rate and income level of residents," Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The 5 percent year-on-year result in the first half of 2024, released just a few days ago, confirms that China can make it. The situation in the first six months was not particularly bright, but we all know that China is used to achieving its results and except for 2020, an annus horribilis for the world economy, it has always done so, Mario Boselli, president of the Italy China Council Foundation, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

"We are convinced that it is all a matter of time: China will soon recover and the around 5 percent growth target will be reached in 2024. We must have confidence, because the results will come," said Boselli.

Li noted that the communique addresses the major issues China is facing and anticipates the bottlenecks in future economic and social development, and proposes targeted measures to address these challenges.

"This is crucial for smoothly achieving the annual economic and social development goals and for proposing better economic planning for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30)," said Li.

The second half of the year may still be affected by domestic demand issues. Although export growth was strong in the first half, the uncertainty of exports in the second half cannot be ignored. 

Addressing external shocks, which could have significant impacts, remains another challenge, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"The market is yearning for some policies to be introduced, including those concerning consumption tax, central and local fiscal reforms, social security, a unified national market and technological innovation," Cong noted.

China is witnessing a transformation in the mode of economic growth, shifting from resource-driven growth to the current innovation-driven development, Cong stressed. 

"Facing both an industrial structural upgrade and a new wave of technological revolution, China's future strength fundamentally depends on the construction of an innovative system."