Economic conference affirms committment to reform

China’s new leaders indicated at an annual conference for setting economic policy that their primary goal is to shift China’s growth model toward domestic demand and away from exports and investment in state-owned enterprises, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing the state-run Xinhua News Agency. In a statement released after the yearly Central Economic Work Conference, Beijing’s leaders said they plan to increase imports and encourage further urbanization as a means to boost domestic consumption. Rural migrants will be encouraged to move to cities, where they have the potential to earn greater amounts than in their villages, giving them more disposal income to spend on consumer goods. Senior officials also made plans to maintain property controls, increase the availability of financing and lower financing costs. With investment, the focus will be to increase private spending rather than the public funding of infrastructure, the statement said.