Xi Calls for Credit Expansion

President Xi Jinping stamped his authority over China’s economy at a major meeting ending Wednesday, which called for “reasonable” credit expansion, increased imports and more open markets and efforts to curb noxious pollution, AFP reported. The pledges were made under a new banner, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialist Economy with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, at the end of the annual Central Economic Work Conference, during which leaders review past policy and plan for the upcoming year. The outcome of the three-day closed-door meeting was published by the state news agency Xinhua. The report outlined China’s new economic direction under Xi, building on his declaration at a party congress in October that the country must shift from an era of high-growth to high-quality development. The economy is rebalancing away from the investment-heavy and export-dependent model that brought four decades of breakneck economic growth but left the country heavily in debt. The report also called for measures to tackle financial risk.