The year 2016 will see China support its economic growth through supply-side policies and measures. The authorities vowed to reduce property inventory, cut corporate burden through tax breaks, eliminate outdated industrial production and modernize agriculture, even confronted with lingering downward pressure.

New macroeconomic indicators have suggested stabilization in the Chinese economy and that China is on track to meeting the government’s growth target for 2015. NBS figures released on Dec. 12 confirm a notable rebound in industrial production and steady fixed-asset investment growth in November.

China will further open up to the world in the coming five years, experts said. While accelerating its opening up of the capital market, China will open up more places in its middle and western regions via the “Belt and Road” initiative and support its coastal regions in taking part in global cooperation and competition.

Economists said the speech Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered on September 10 at the opening ceremony of Summer Davos in northeast China’s Dalian expressed unwavering resolution to advance reforms and opening up and demonstrated China’s contributions to global economic growth.

The Chinese government is under high pressure to meet its budget target for central fiscal revenue this year, finance minister Lou Jiwei warned, citing slowing fiscal revenue growth. Liu also warned of debt risks of some local governments and called for establishing an evaluation and early warning system for such debts.

China’s market-oriented reforms have reshaped the economic landscape, allowing private companies to compete with state-owned enterprises. The latest release by WPP and Millward Brown offers a glimpse of the shift, showing the rise of “market-driven” brands and a slowdown among state-owned enterprises.

Expectation of a lukewarm domestic economy and a continuously rising U.S. dollar so far this year have created concern that the renminbi (RMB/yuan) is set to depreciate sharply this year since the central parity rate of the renminbi has been declining for four days in a row since the new year’s trading started.

As banks and economic think tanks anticipate the publishing of China’s full-year 2014 economic data in late January, many are predicting slow but higher quality growth for China in 2015. A more moderate growth rate with stable growth engines is being hailed as the “new normal” for China’s economy.

China has expanded its free trade zone (FTZ) in Shanghai and established three new zones with eased investment rules to speed up reforms amid economic hardship. The adjustment will take effect in March and will last for three years, after which official assessment will decide whether the policy should continue.The three new zones will shoulder distinct responsibilities in the economic opening up.