5 takeaways from China’s Central Economic Work Conference as Beijing maps its 2026 growth path

What global executives need to ask about China in 2026

2025 was a turbulent year for China. The country began the year battling geopolitical headwinds and weak domestic demand. By April, new tariffs and trade frictions triggered some of the most significant trade actions in decades. Yet by November, the story had changed. China’s annual trade surplus passed $1 trillion, a record high. GDP growth remained steady at around 5%. The country seems to have shrugged off concerns of “deglobalization.” What …

Op-ed: China won the 2025 battle in Trump's trade war. Here's what comes next

China ended the year of President Trump's aggressive tariffs policy with a trillion-dollar trade surplus. That's an economic and political win for now.

China's CEWC shows planning over panic

China’s year-end Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) has laid out a calm, coherent and forward-looking economic roadmap for 2026, underscoring policy continuity and institutional confidence at a moment of global volatility.  Meeting in Beijing, China’s top leadership said the country is entering the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan with a deliberate focus on stabilising growth, upgrading the economic structure and strengthening long-ter…

China sets 2026 economic agenda at high-level meeting in Beijing

China’s top leadership convened in Beijing from 10 to 11 December for the Central Economic Work Conference to determine the country’s economic direction for 2026, the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a keynote address reviewing the economic performance of 2025, analysing current…

Beijing digs in for trade ‘struggles’, eyes strategy of growth and resilience

Analysts see leadership’s language after central economic work conference as an admission that trade tensions are expected to endure.

5 takeaways from China’s Central Economic Work Conference as Beijing maps its 2026 growth path

Analysts say the key meeting offers fresh clues about where China sees its biggest pressures as it faces up to domestic and external headwinds.