China to implement more proactive macroeconomic policies in 2025: experts

China is expected to complement more proactive macroeconomic policies in the coming year, some economic experts said when they shared their opinions on the country's economic policies following the conclusion of the two-day Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing on Thursday.

Policymakers proposed that the economic work in 2025 should adhere to the principles of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, promoting stability through progress, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, establishing the new before abolishing the old, promoting systemic integration and making coordinated efforts to enrich policy toolbox, and enhance the foresight, pertinence, and effectiveness of macroeconomic policies.

"The general requirement of China's macroeconomic policy is to make more proactive and effective macroeconomic regulations. In the past, we usually used one to three phases to describe such a requirement, but this year we used six phases. What does it mean? It means that the economic situation next year will be more complicated, and it also means that we must be more proactive and make good overall balance in our economic work next year. For example, the two requirements 'upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground', and 'establishing the new before abolishing the old', are close integration between policy and reform methodology," said Dong Yu, executive vice president of the China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University.

"In the conference, policymakers particularly emphasized the need to stabilize the property market and the stock market, boost confidence, and improve expectations. They also clearly stated the need to guard against and resolve risks in key areas and external shocks. These statements have never been mentioned before. This sent a signal to the whole society that the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee has increased domestic macroeconomic policy support in order to continuously stabilize and improve China's economy, and hedge against the possible adverse effects of external shocks next year," said Bi Jiyao, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research.

Policymakers also stressed the need to strengthen coordination and cooperation among fiscal, monetary, employment, industrial, regional, trade, environmental protection, and regulatory policies and reform and opening-up measures.

"The statement of 'establish integrated economic system and make coordinated efforts' mainly emphasizes that the country's fiscal policy, monetary policy, industrial policy, and regional policy should cooperate with each other to jointly enhance the consistency of macroeconomic policy, and promote the continued recovery of China's economy," said Bi.

China to implement more proactive macroeconomic policies in 2025: experts

The universal "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the United States signals a decline in the U.S. economic dominance and dollar hegemony, as the country is attempting to extract excessive financial benefits from its trading partners, according to economists, who warn the Trump administration is playing a "dangerous game".

U.S. President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" before unveiling higher rates on certain trading partners. The policy sent shockwaves throughout the global economy and triggered panic on financial markets, with analysts warning of significant risks and dire economic consequences.

In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Hong Hao, chief economist of the GROW Investment Group, a Shanghai-based hedge fund, said the tariffs reflect Trump's strategy to extract economic benefits from trading partners, particularly viewing China as a significant competitor. "Trump really believes that the trade terms with the trading partners have been unfair to the U.S., and as a result, the U.S. manufacturing sector has been hollowed out. Therefore, the U.S. is paying an excessive price for globalization, and now, it's time to pay back. I think, from this angle, he is trying to extract economic rent from its trading partners, and also he is trying to see China as one of the major U.S. rivals at this juncture. So, I think, as a result, he is playing a very dangerous game. And, as you can see, it's political theater in the sense that he is trying to dramatize the extreme pressure, so that he can get excessive rent from the opponent," he said

Trump's unilateral imposition of tariffs has eroded global confidence in the U.S. and its dollar's status, leading many to state that the American hegemony may not persist, according to Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of politics and international relations at East China Normal University.

"The U.S. economy is at an inflection point. There is a moment where the previous strategies being used to sustain American hegemony were no longer working. And, it's only a matter of time before the U.S. position erodes, given the fact that it's been a house of cards built on the dollar supremacy. And a lot of people don't see that as having a brighter future. This has moved past the theater stage and has moved really directly into one in which no one really has confidence in the U.S. anymore. No one has confidence in the dollar. No one has confidence in the U.S. being committed to the multilateral system, to global trade and so forth and so on," he said.

Trump playing "dangerous game" as tariff measures signal decline in U.S. dollar hegemony: economists