{"text":[[{"start":9.58,"text":"China’s leadership has signalled it will speed up public spending but stopped short of delivering sudden stimulus measures for the economy, as President Xi Jinping acknowledged a need to “tap the potential of domestic demand” during the rest of the year."}],[{"start":24.14,"text":"Officials of the Chinese Communist Party’s politburo, its top decision-making body, met on Thursday and agreed to “accelerate the pace of fiscal expenditure”, according to a readout of the meeting by state media Xinhua."}],[{"start":36.44,"text":"Xinhua also reported a speech by Xi made six days ago when China’s president said the economy faced “some difficulties and challenges”."}],[{"start":45.28,"text":"This month’s politburo meeting was being closely watched for signs of how Xi and other leaders would react after the world’s second-biggest economy this month revealed below-target growth data."}],[{"start":55.76,"text":"The meeting “stressed the need to effectively expand domestic demand”, Xinhua said, adding that the government would introduce “practical and effective incremental policies”."}],[{"start":65.4,"text":"Xi late last year pinpointed domestic demand as a priority for 2026 but several monthly indicators, including declines in fixed-asset investment and weak retail sales growth, have recently signalled mounting economic pressures."}],[{"start":80.18,"text":"GDP rose 4.3 per cent in the second quarter, outside a 4.5 to 5 per cent official annual target that is the lowest of its kind in decades."}],[{"start":89.76,"text":"Adam Wolfe, an emerging markets economist at Absolute Strategy Research, said ahead of the meeting that the second-quarter data “left little doubt that additional fiscal and monetary support will be needed” to hit the target."}],[{"start":102.8,"text":"But the announcement on Thursday showed “no sign of any major policy change or additional support”, Wolfe said."}],[{"start":109.7,"text":"Economists have for years called for more stimulus in China, where a prolonged property slowdown now in its fifth year has weighed heavily on household confidence."}],[{"start":118.1,"text":"The Xinhua readout stressed the need to “expand high-quality supply to meet the consumption needs of different groups”, as well as to “tap the potential of services consumption” and “stabilise the property market”."}],[{"start":130.3,"text":"It also said that monetary policy tools should be “comprehensively utilised and adjusted in a timely manner”."}],[{"start":137.86,"text":"Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said while the meeting did not announce “large-scale stimulus”, it “reaffirmed an easing policy bias through proactive fiscal measures, accommodative monetary policy and the possibility of incremental policy support against the backdrop of softer growth numbers in the second quarter”."}],[{"start":160.1,"text":"“In the near term, investors are likely to focus more on the pace and scale of follow-through implementation,” he said."}],[{"start":167.66,"text":"Carlos Casanova, an economist at UBP, said policy momentum in China “appears constrained” ahead of a party congress expected in the second half of next year. The congress is held every five years and is expected to confirm top leadership roles."}],[{"start":183.66,"text":"“Any measures in the interim are likely to be countercyclical rather than structural,” he said."}],[{"start":189.6,"text":"China’s exports have jumped sharply this year, following a record goods trade surplus of $1.2tn in 2025."}],[{"start":202.94,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785411298_3145.mp3"}