China holds commerce work conference to make plans for 2025

A National Commerce Work Conference was held in Beijing this weekend to outline plans for 2025, emphasizing eight key perspectives including expanding cross-border commerce and trade-in programs.

First, a special campaign dedicated to stimulating consumption will be implemented, and consumer goods trade-in programs will be promoted with greater intensity and scope.

China will innovate and diversify consumption scenarios, expand service consumption, foster digital consumption, accelerate the development of a high-standard market system, and enhance the modern commercial circulation system.

Second, efforts will be intensified to ensure stable performance in foreign trade, and high-quality development of trade will be pursued.

China will foster new drivers of foreign trade, expand cross-border e-commerce, develop green trade, and advance digital trade. Multiple measures will be applied to support enterprises in exploring diverse international markets. China will actively expand imports. Additionally, China will adopt innovative measures to boost trade in services and develop digital trade.

Third, foreign investment will be stabilized while seeking further growth, and a first-rate business environment will be fostered.

China will expand voluntary and unilateral opening up in an orderly manner, continue to make China a favored destination for foreign investment, leverage national economic development zones as key investment hubs, and strengthen service support for foreign-invested enterprises.

Forth, the initiative to align with high-standard international trade rules will be taken, and high-standard opening-up platform will be built.

China will improve the quality and efficiency of pilot free trade zones and expand mandate for reform tasks, optimize the function of opening-up platforms, and elevate the quality and efficiency of exhibitions.

Fifth, international cooperation in industrial and supply chains will be facilitated, and the quality and level of foreign investment and cooperation will be enhanced.

China will deepen the reform of the foreign investment management system and improve the overseas comprehensive service system.

Sixth, pragmatic economic and trade cooperation will be strengthened, and more progress will be made in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

China will improve the economic and trade cooperation mechanism, deepen Silk Road e-commerce collaboration, coordinate the promotion of landmark projects alongside "small and beautiful" livelihood projects, and align cooperation in both traditional and emerging sectors.

Seventh, active participation in global economic governance will be fostered, and multilateral and bilateral regional economic and trade cooperation will be enhanced.

China will comprehensively engage in WTO reforms, expand the global network of high-standard free trade zones (FTZs), and strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations.

Eighth, major risks will be prevented and defused, and measures will be taken to resolutely safeguard national security.

China holds commerce work conference to make plans for 2025

China on Wednesday issued a guideline outlining arrangements for pilot work to extend rural land contracts by an additional 30 years upon the expiration of the second-round contracts.

The document, jointly issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, comprises 15 specific measures with a mandate to strengthen the protection of farmers' contractual land rights and interests, enhance the management of rural land contracting, and reinforce organization work and leadership, among others.

The document emphasizes the unchanged policies of unwaveringly upholding the collective ownership of rural land and the farmer household land contracting and operating system, ensuring the principal position of farmers and the stability of rural society.

To carry out the rural land contracts extension pilot work effectively, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other competent authorities have since 2020 guided various provinces in gradually expanding the scope of the pilot program. This year, province-wide trials are expected to be conducted across 29 provincial-level regions.

Under China's household contract responsibility system, all rural land is owned by rural collectives, which allocate contract rights for parcels of farmland to eligible households. The tenure of contract rights was 15 years in the 1980s and renewed by another 30 years for the second-round contracts in the 1990s. The expiration of second-round contracts is expected to enter a peak period from 2026 to 2028.

China issues pilot work guideline for rural land contracts extension