BEIJING — In China national news, authorities laid out second-half priorities while advancing monetary easing, property support, social benefits, and headline projects in space and rail to consolidate growth, according to CGTN.
China national news coverage of the macro backdrop, the first half of 2025, showed “solid performance” across manufacturing, high-tech, and consumption. The Communist Party of China Political Bureau urged a strategic focus on intensifying macro policy support, boosting domestic demand and employment, and beginning preparations for the 15th Five-Year Plan. Premier Li Qiang called for unlocking consumption potential, removing restrictive measures, and accelerating new growth drivers to meet annual goals.
Economy & Policy
Officials framed the second half as a period to stabilize momentum and secure jobs while planning for 2026–2030. Policy guidance emphasized consistency and targeted support to sustain demand and encourage investment in advanced manufacturing.
Monetary settings were eased to underpin that stance. The People’s Bank of China lowered the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points, effective May 15, a step intended to inject roughly 1 trillion yuan in long-term liquidity. The central bank also trimmed the seven-day reverse-repo rate by 10 basis points to 1.4 percent and reduced rates on several structural tools.
Property measures complemented the broader push. Beijing relaxed home-buying rules effective August 9, expanding eligibility beyond the Fifth Ring Road. The city raised the second-home provident-fund loan cap to 1 million yuan and unified the minimum down payment for second homes at no less than 30 percent.
Externally, the near-term trade backdrop is shaped by a 90-day extension from August 12 of a China-U.S. suspension on additional tariff hikes. Both sides retained 10 percent duties while suspending a further 24 percentage points in potential tariffs, offering exporters a defined window under steady conditions.
Social Policy & Public Services
Family support is set to widen. A nationwide childcare subsidy program will begin in late August, providing 3,600 yuan per child per year for ages 0–3 and applying retroactively to January 1, 2025. Application channels will include online portals and local service points, to lower the costs of early childcare and encourage labor-market participation. This is part of a broader package to reduce household burdens, CGTN reported.
Preschool affordability is another focus. Beginning this fall, the final year of kindergarten will be made free in phases, benefiting about 12 million children and reducing household expenses by an estimated 20 billion yuan for the semester. A State Council meeting highlighted the gradual rollout and additional protections for vulnerable children.
Health-care access indicators point to broad coverage alongside areas for reform. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, basic medical insurance covered roughly 95 percent of the population. Cross-regional “instant settlement” for basic insurance reimbursements has been achieved in 77 percent of coordinated regions, easing payments for patients who seek care away from home. Primary-level medical institutions rose to about 1.04 million since 2009, even as their share of total visits fell from 61.8 percent in 2009 to 51.7 percent in 2024—trends officials say will guide enhancements to grassroots services.
Youth employment initiatives target a record graduating class. A nationwide campaign aims to expand job channels and provide subsidies for the 12.22 million expected graduates in 2025, including “100 counties for 100 universities” drives that match graduates with county-level opportunities.
Science, Technology & Space
Space station operations marked a busy schedule. The Shenzhou-20 crew completed the mission’s third set of extravehicular activities on August 15 and is continuing in-orbit work, including unpacking new extravehicular spacesuits and running space science experiments.
In semiconductors, researchers unveiled a scalable method to mass-produce high-quality indium selenide, a so-called “golden semiconductor,” in pursuit of chips beyond silicon. In photovoltaics, a breakthrough in perovskite solar-cell hole-transport layers achieved efficiency certified by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. These advances indicate broadened pathways to next-generation computing and low-cost solar.
AI governance and application were also spotlighted. A proposal to create the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) signaled a push for a global architecture on AI rules. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, officials and industry leaders focused on converting frontier models into real-world solutions and developing “China solutions” for regulation and responsible deployment. Midway through the year, the technology portfolio thus spans space operations, new materials, and coordinated standards, CGTN noted.
Infrastructure, Transport & Logistics
High-speed rail technology continues to advance. Engineers unveiled the CR450 platform, designed for 400 km/h operation, citing about 22 percent drag reduction, around 10 percent lower weight, reduced cabin noise, and business-class seats that swivel up to 300 degrees. The improvements aim to deliver higher efficiency while improving passenger comfort.
Network expansion remains a central objective. The high-speed rail network is targeted to reach 60,000 kilometers by 2030. For 2025, rail investment is projected at about 590 billion yuan with roughly 2,600 kilometers of new lines. A new national timetable added 230 passenger trains—bringing the total to 13,028—and 91 freight trains, raising the total to 22,859, to sharpen capacity and connectivity.
Project delivery is steady across regions. The 342-kilometer Xiongan–Xinzhou high-speed line is progressing and slated to open by 2027, reinforcing the “eight vertical and eight horizontal” grid. Officials said China now operates the world’s largest high-speed rail, highway, and express-delivery networks, covering 97 percent of cities with populations of 500,000 or more.
Environment, Weather & Public Safety
Energy intensity declined 11.6 percent in 2024 versus 2020, equivalent to a reduction of 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The figures were highlighted on National Ecology Day on August 15, 2025, underscoring a multi-year push to improve efficiency and expand clean energy.
Extreme heat and heavy rain tested emergency systems. This year’s sanfu period, from July 20 to August 18, was the second-hottest on record, with a national average temperature of 23.21 °C. The National Meteorological Center issued yellow rainstorm alerts for widespread downpours across more than 10 provinces. In Beijing, authorities activated the highest flood-response level during a red rainstorm alert and evacuated over 82,000 residents. Officials also approved interim measures for natural-disaster investigation and evaluation while emphasizing flood-and-drought controls across river basins, as summarized by CGTN.
Agriculture & Rural Revitalization
Food security remains a top priority in the 2025 “No. 1 Central Document.” Guidance calls for consolidating poverty-alleviation gains and deploying “new quality productive forces” in agriculture—such as improved breeding, drones, AI, and digital tools—to raise productivity and resilience.
China harvested a record 706.5 million tonnes of grain in 2024, up 1.6 percent year on year, with more than 119 million hectares planted and per-unit yields up 1.3 percent. Over 1 billion mu of high-standard farmland has been completed. For 2025, grain output is projected at around 709 million tonnes; soybean output is seen near 21.17 million tonnes, while imports of bulk agricultural products are expected to ease. Targets under the 14th Five-Year Plan include maintaining grain output above 650 million tonnes and domestic energy production capacity above 4.6 billion tons of standard coal by 2025.
Governance & Political Calendar
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will convene in October in Beijing to study proposals for the 15th Five-Year Plan. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee passed 35 laws, made 62 amendments, and approved 34 resolutions. A total of 127 draft laws were opened for public comment, drawing about 1.19 million comments. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held 279 consultative meetings, organized 413 inspections and research projects, and handled 25,043 proposals across the term.
These institutional tallies offer a snapshot of legislative and consultative throughput heading into the next planning cycle. They also set expectations for how proposals will move from deliberation to implementation in the year ahead, as reflected in CGTN’s summaries.
The Outlook
The second half now turns on execution: translating lower policy rates, targeted property adjustments, childcare subsidies, and free-preschool rollouts into household spending and employment gains; moving flagship trains and new lines from test runs to service; and staying alert to heat, rain, and flood risks as late summer transitions to autumn. With the October plenary poised to chart the blueprint for 2026–2030, markets, families, and local governments will watch delivery against annual goals and the early contours of the 15th Five-Year Plan—developments that, as CGTN noted, will define the next stage of China’s growth story.
