China confident in promoting continuous economic recovery in 2025

A China-Europe freight train loaded with 1,300 tonnes of flour products from Kazakhstan arrives in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Jan. 10, 2025. [Photo by Zhang Yuan/China News Service] 

When setting economic growth targets for 2025, China will consider both needs and possibilities and ensure coherence with medium and long-term planning, an official with the country's top economic planner said on January 3, 2025.

Yuan Da, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference that China's economy will face many new difficulties and challenges in 2025. The external environment is becoming more complex and severe, with deepening adverse impacts.

However, Yuan believes there are "positive factors." China's economy has a stable foundation, multiple advantages, strong resilience and great potential. Further comprehensive deepening of reforms, development of new quality productive forces, and boosting the domestic circulation of the economy will stimulate the internal momentum of economic development.

The effects of policies introduced last year will continue to be evident, and there remains ample space for macro policies this year. Coupled with richer macrocontrol tools, these can provide strong support for achieving the 2025 economic growth targets, Yuan said.

"We are full of confidence in promoting the continuous recovery of the economy in 2025, and also fully confident in completing the goals and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) with high quality," the official said. 

China tightens oversight on administrative inspections of enterprises

Two police officers use a police drone for air patrol in Daishan County, Zhoushan City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 24, 2024. [Photo taken by Zou Xunyong/China News Service]

The Chinese government has issued a comprehensive directive aimed at addressing the misuse of administrative inspections of enterprises, a senior judicial official said January 7, 2025.

The new policy document, the first systematic one to regulate such inspections, aims to strike a balance between effective supervision and minimal interference in lawabiding business operations, said Vice Minister of Justice Hu Weilie at a press conference.

The directive targets longstanding problems such as unclear inspection authority, excessive frequency and arbitrary implementation, Hu said.

The document stipulates that only qualified entities may conduct inspections and ask for a review of existing inspection items to eliminate unnecessary or redundant checks.

It also includes provisions to minimize the number and frequency of on-site inspections and replace some of them with written reviews, data sharing and application of information technology.

Each administrative agency is instructed to adopt and publish the maximum annual inspection frequency of one enterprise by mid-2025.

"These hard quotas aim to substantially lower the burden on enterprises," said Fei Xianghong, a senior ministry official, at the same press conference.

The directive establishes clear rules to prevent abuse of power, including bans on profit-driven inspections, interference in regular business operations, arbitrary seizures and freezing of assets, and unjustified orders to halt production.

Additionally, the document outlines procedural safeguards for conducting inspections, ensuring transparency and fairness throughout the process.

"We are determined to show businesses the government's commitment to regulating administrative inspections and enhancing their confidence in the future," Hu said.

He also emphasized that inspections in areas critical to public safety, such as food, pharmaceuticals and workplace safety, will remain rigorous, especially in cases involving public complaints or reports.