Foreign media focus on outcome of China's key economic meeting

BEIJING - The priorities set out by Chinese leaders at a key economic meeting have prompted strong interest among foreign media organizations.

The Central Economic Work Conference, which was held here from Friday to Monday, reviewed China's economic performance in 2015 and mapped out plans for 2016.

According to an official statement released after the meeting, the government will make fiscal policy more forceful and monetary policy more flexible to keep growth within a proper range in 2016, with an emphasis on structural reforms.

The Wall Street Journal, the most-subscribed financial newspaper in the United States, ran a front-page story Tuesday under the headline "China Unveils Economic Blueprint for 2016."

The report said the meeting "nods to a host of chronic problems hindering China's transformation into an economy driven more by consumption and less by debt and investment."

The economic plan approved by Chinese leaders for the next year represents "Beijing's latest effort to try to rebalance its economy by finding new sources of growth."

Bloomberg, a leading provider of business and financial news, also published a report on the meeting, saying China is poised to take more stimulus measures to support growth.

"It's clear that policy in a broad sense is still being eased, and it's reasonable to expect looser fiscal policy next year and also looser monetary policy," the report cited Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics Ltd in London, as saying.

Meanwhile, in a widely circulated story, the Associated Press underlined the Chinese leaders' promises to cut business costs and reduce surplus production capacity in some industries.

The report noted that China has taken steps to reduce regulatory approvals required to start a business, and cut interest rates charged by credit unions and other small lenders that serve the private sector.

In 2016, further measures will be taken to reduce the burden on enterprises in China, as part of a national campaign to promote "mass entrepreneurship and innovation," the report said, referring to the statement published after the meeting.