The managing director of the International Monetary Fund called on China on Sunday to implement a “comprehensive package of pro-market reforms” to boost a sluggish economy plagued by a housing market crisis, sluggish domestic demand and high youth unemployment.
Chinese policymakers have so far resisted large-scale government stimulus to boost the economy, instead emphasizing the need to shift to “high-quality” growth.
At the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that “shifting from high growth to high-quality growth is the right fork in the road, and China is determined to do so.” .”
The Bulgarian economist warned that “this transition will not be easy” but argued that “with a comprehensive pro-market reform package, China could grow much faster than the status quo”, according to an official transcript of her speech.
Georgieva said Beijing should take “decisive measures” to reduce the number of unfinished homes and give the critical but debt-laden real estate sector more room for “market-based adjustments.”
She added that authorities should also improve “the spending power of individuals and families” by strengthening China’s pension system and taking other steps to improve its vast social security institutions.
Georgieva also urged China to strengthen its “business environment and [ensure] A level playing field between private and state-owned enterprises” is a long-term demand from overseas business groups operating in the Asian country.
China’s top politicians are ostensibly bullish on the economy, with Prime Minister Li Qiang saying at a forum on Sunday that Beijing would “take pragmatic and effective actions to promote high-quality development and inject positive energy into global economic recovery…”.
But China’s GDP growth has been trending downward for years, and Beijing this month set an annual target of “around 5%” – well below the breakneck expansion rates that have fueled China’s rapid prosperity.
Sunday’s forum was attended by some of the world’s leading business figures, including Apple’s Tim Cook, who said he had a great meeting with Li.
“I think China is really opening up, and I’m happy to be here,” the CEO of the largest U.S. smartphone empire told a CGTN reporter, according to a video posted on social media from a state-run broadcaster’s account.
In separate comments posted online by state broadcaster CCTV, Cook said Apple would continue to increase investment in research and development in China.
He added that Apple’s flagship mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, will be available in China by the end of this year, according to a Chinese-only translation of his social media post.
Cook opened a new Apple store in Shanghai this week and discussed the company’s expansion plans in China with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Friday.
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