According to Xinhua News Agency, Li Qiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, presided over a symposium of experts and entrepreneurs in economic situation on the afternoon of April 9 to listen to opinions and suggestions on the current economic situation and the next step of economic work.

The meeting mentioned that in the face of new changes in the domestic and international situation, it is particularly important to do a good job in the second quarter and the next step of economic work, and all work must be continuously strengthened and more powerful. We must implement more active and effective macro policies, make efforts to promote the implementation and effectiveness of established policies as soon as possible, and promptly introduce new incremental policies according to the needs of the situation, so as to respond to uncertainty in the external environment with strong and effective policies.

Song Xiangqing, vice president of the Chinese Society of Business Economics and founder of Huade List, said that the symposium of economic situation experts and entrepreneurs has sent a key signal of current economic work. The new incremental policy will focus on three major directions: fiscal and monetary coordinated efforts, precise industrial upgrading, and launch a series of combined punches to boost consumption. The meeting clarified "more active and proactive macroeconomic policies", which were specifically manifested as increasing the fiscal deficit ratio, issuing ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, and adjusting the tone of monetary policy to "moderate easing" to effectively alleviate local fiscal pressure. At the same time, in response to external technology blockade, all regions have shown their powers and implemented precise policies in promoting industrial upgrading.

Experts:

The focus of policy should focus on activate the vitality of market entities

Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association and founding director of the China Research Institute of New Economics, said that the most needed policy at present is a structural policy tool with precision drip irrigation. The focus of the policy should be on activate the vitality of market entities, such as targeted blood transfusions to small and medium-sized enterprises through tax and fee reductions, and at the same time, optimizing the business environment and reducing institutional transaction costs. The key to responding to challenges lies in improving the resilience of the industrial chain and locking in irreplaceable links in the global division of labor. In addition, policy buffers need to be established, such as establishing a cross-border capital flow warning mechanism to hedge capital outflow pressure in advance during the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike cycle and maintain monetary policy independence.

The meeting pointed out that we must make the domestic circulation bigger and stronger, take expanding domestic demand as a long-term strategy, increase efforts to stabilize employment and promote income growth, and accelerate the release of service consumption potential while trading old products for new products, promote the integrated development of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and lead and create demand with high-quality supply.

Song Xiangqing said that at this node, the meeting reiterated that it has great strategic value and historical significance to make the domestic circulation bigger and stronger and to make expanding domestic demand a long-term strategy. First of all, this is the inevitable choice for our country to deal with external shocks. At present, global trade frictions are intensifying, and the contribution rate of foreign demand to economic growth has declined. The domestic circulation can reduce its dependence on external markets by expanding domestic demand. It is not difficult to see from the market performance of the policy of exchanging consumer goods traded in the first quarter of 2025 that expanding domestic demand and expanding the domestic circulation is the right way. Secondly, making the domestic circulation bigger and stronger is conducive to activate endogenous growth momentum.

Zhukeli said that China's consumer market is shifting from quantitative expansion to quality leap. After the infrastructure shortcomings of third- and fourth-tier cities and county markets are strengthened, it will release the quality consumption demand of hundreds of millions of people. The strategic significance lies in reconstructing the driving force of economic growth. On the one hand, it cultivates new growth poles such as digital consumption and smart homes through new infrastructure, and on the other hand, it uses scenario revolution to activate existing resources, such as the transformation of idle industrial land into a cultural and tourism complex. The key is to break the traditional thinking of focusing on production and neglecting circulation, build a modern logistics system to reduce social transaction costs, and at the same time promote market-oriented reform of factors, so that factors such as land, labor and other factors flow freely between urban and rural areas, forming a positive cycle of mutual promotion of supply and demand.

Accelerating the release of service consumption potential

The consumption environment needs to be improved

Talking about how to accelerate the release of service consumption potential, Zhu Keli said that the core contradiction of the outbreak of service consumption has shifted from insufficient supply to mismatch of supply and demand. Current conditions include 5G commercialization has given birth to new business formats such as cloud medical care and online education, the silver economy has given birth to a blue ocean of elderly-friendly services, and the Z-generation pursuit of experiential consumption. Breaking the deadlock requires a two-pronged approach. The supply side promotes the industrialization of the service industry, such as using standardization to solve the trust pain points of housekeeping services, and using digitalization to improve the response speed of the cultural and tourism industry; the demand side should solve the psychological barrier of "dare not to consume". It is recommended to combine pilot service consumption coupons with commercial insurance, and include large expenditures such as pension care in the personal income tax deduction. We must be especially wary of excessive regulation in some areas to curb innovation, especially to avoid hindering the integration of flexible employment and service upgrades.

Song Xiangqing said that at present, my country has released its service consumption potential, and has advantages such as accelerated consumption capacity, effective release of policy dividends, and continuous increase in technology empowerment scenarios. The growth of per capita disposable income of residents provides basic support for service consumption. At the same time, last year, the State Council's "Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Service Consumption" proposed 20 key tasks in six aspects, including tapping the basic consumption potential of catering, accommodation, housekeeping, elderly care and childcare, stimulating the vitality of improving consumption such as culture, entertainment, tourism, sports, education and training, and housing services, and cultivating and strengthening new consumption such as digital, green, and health.

Song Xiangqing said that in the future, we need to focus on breaking through bottlenecks such as insufficient supply quality, weak consumer confidence, and regional imbalance. The next key work direction is to greatly expand service supply, second, the consumption environment should be optimized more vigorously, and third, regional coordinated development should be strengthened. At the same time, we must further promote the improvement of energy efficiency in international consumer center cities.

Red Star News Chief Reporter Wu Yang