(Reuters) – China will postpone a key economic meeting after Covid-19 infections spiked in Beijing, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Central Economic Work Conference, held behind closed doors, was supposed to start later this week. At the meeting, Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, were expected to chart a recovery course for the Covid-19-hit economy for 2023, including more stimulus plans.
The Bloomberg story said there was no set timetable for when the meeting would be rescheduled.
The meeting is usually attended by Politburo members and heads of government agencies, as well as provincial leaders. In it, a growth target for next year is expected to be endorsed, although it will not be publicly announced until the annual meeting of the Chinese Parliament, usually held in March.
After China loosened some of its strict Covid rules last week, the capital Beijing has seen a spike in infections with a sharp drop in economic activity in recent days.
China’s Politburo, the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, said last week that fiscal policy will be stepped up and become more effective in the coming year, while monetary policy will be targeted and vigorous.
While that should put growth back on a more solid footing in the longer term, a spike in Covid-19 infections could put more pressure on the fragile economy in the near term, hurting businesses and making consumers cautious about their spending.
Pressured by lockdowns against Covid-19, China’s economy grew by just 3% in the first three quarters of the year and is expected to remain at that rate throughout the year, well below the official target of “around 5.5%”.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Additional reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru)
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