The Government of China has inaugurated its 2025 economic Roadmap centred on bolstering five per cent GDP growth, innovation and investment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the roadmap is centred on boosting consumption, innovation and technology, fiscal and monetary policy implementation, as well as market reform.
China’s Premier Li Qiang disclosed this during the virtual presentation of the Chinese government work report against the backdrop of the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China.
He stated that the focus of the roadmap was fiscal expansion, technological innovation, and foreign investment, outlining a comprehensive approach aimed at sustaining the country’s economic growth amid global uncertainties.
Li said, “A key feature of China’s 2025 economic strategy is an expanded fiscal policy with the deficit-to-GDP ratio set at four per cent, marking a notable increase from the previous year.
“To support economic stimulus, Chinese government plans to issue 1.3 trillion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds, up by 300 billion yuan from last year, along with 4.4 trillion yuan in local government special-purpose bonds.
“Such represents a 500 billion yuan increase over 2024 levels; this fiscal expansion is designed to boost domestic consumption.
“Of the ultra-long special treasury bonds, 300 billion yuan will be allocated to consumer goods trade-in programmes.”
Tian Xuan, Deputy to the 14th NPC and Associate Dean at PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, explained the significance of the initiative, saying expanding domestic demand is a priority among ten key tasks outlined in the report.
According to Tian, the dedicated 300 billion yuan for trade-in programmes will stimulate consumption, drive transformation and upgrade consumption patterns.
Chan Chun-ying, Hong Kong’s Deputy to the NPC and Advisor at Bank of China Hong Kong Ltd, expressed confidence in the economic target.
He added that China had consistently sustained medium-to-high-speed economic growth.
He restated that such is notable in China’s ability to maintain a five per cent growth rate and demonstrated confidence, which in turn boosted confidence.
“China is prioritising technological advancements in biomanufacturing, quantum-computing, embodied AI and 6G.
“The AI Plus initiative aims to integrate digital technologies with manufacturing strengths, supporting extensive application of large-scale AI models, development of next-generation intelligent terminals and smart manufacturing equipment.
“The emergence of deep-seek has demonstrated that we can achieve global AI capabilities, using cost-effective chips and faster processing speeds,” Chan said.
Erik Solheim, former UN Under-Secretary-General and former Executive-Director of the UN Environment Programme, described the roadmap as China’s commitment to stabilising foreign trade and advancing Belt and Road cooperation.
“China remains a significant force in the world economy with an expected economic growth of five per cent for 2025, China will continue to be the biggest source of global economic growth.
“Stability and innovation are key themes of this year’s two sessions; China is at the forefront of innovation, particularly in the two most important sectors, such as economy and environment,” Solheim said.
High points of the event were remarks by Patrick Nijs, co-founder of the EU-China Joint Innovation Centre and Bernardo Mendia, Board Advisor at the EU Young Entrepreneurs Association. (NAN)
