Party leaders approve economic blueprint for 2016

Party officials have approved an economic blueprint for the year ahead that calls for reducing industrial capacity, selling off a huge stockpile of unsold homes, lowering business costs and mitigating financial risks, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing state media. The plan was approved at a closed-door conclave led by President Xi Jinping this week, where the leadership discussed potential continued declines for growth rates, industrial output and employment followed by a long period of flat or even stagnant growth, according to one unnamed official cited by the Journal. “The economy will follow an L-shaped path, and it won’t be a V-shaped path going forward,” the official said.