The Politburo of China’s Communist Party has listed efforts to curb financial risks, eradicate poverty and fight pollution as its top economic priorities for the coming year. At a meeting of the 25-member Politburo chaired by President Xi Jinping, “warding off and addressing major risks to effectively control the macro leverage ratio” was identified as the most important task for the economy, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

The Politburo statement also highlighted the need to reform the property market as it set the tone for this month’s annual Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing, without saying when it would be held. The ruling Communist Party’s economic agenda for 2018 will be mapped out during the conference. Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up, which kick-started the country’s economic miracle. China would open up further, the Politburo statement said, but the most pressing task was to stem financial risks, according to the report. Financial institutions would also be required to strengthen support for the real economy and “positive effects” should be achieved from risk prevention measures.
The Politburo also called on rank-and-file cadres to improve living standards and to make “solid progress” on fighting poverty and environment protection – in line with the policies outlined at the 19th Communist Party Congress in October, where the need for stronger leadership on the economic front was emphasized.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in a financial risk analysis that Beijing should put financial stability above its development goals and said monetary and fiscal policies aimed at shoring up employment and growth had led to a surge in debt loads, but the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said it did not agree with several points made in the report and reconfirmed that China’s financial situation was stable, the South China Morning Post reports.

President Xi Jinping also called for advanced technologies to be “embedded” into the real economy to foster growth. Known as the “fourth industrial revolution,” artificial intelligence, robotics and big data may bolster the global economy by a further 14% by 2030 – the equivalent of an additional USD15.7 trillion in value, according to PwC. “China should lay out our digital master plan early and strive to take the initiative,” Xi said. “We should aim for world class, cutting-edge technologies, and nurture a group of big data companies.” China’s 2016 spending on technology research and development rose 10.6% to CNY1.57 trillion, equivalent to 2.1% of the economy’s output. The figure exceeded the average of 2.08% for the European Union.

Improving industry safety, public security and social stability were also on the Politburo’s priority list, the report said.