Experts shared insights into China's economic work next year in resonance with the annual Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday, in which the Chinese leadership laid out centerpiece of key economic tasks in 2025.
For next year, the meeting emphasized the need to maintain steady economic growth, keep employment and prices generally stable, ensure a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments, and increase residents' income in step with economic growth.
"Keeping resident income (growth) in sync with economic expansion means that ordinary people can enjoy the dividends of economic development," said Tian Xuan, the dean of the National Institute of Financial Research at Tsinghua University.
The meeting called for giving full play to the leading role of economic system reform and ensuring that landmark reform measures are effectively implemented.
Among the efforts, much attention will be given to the promulgation of a law on boosting private economy, the formulation of guidelines for building a unified national market, and the deepening of comprehensive reform of capital market investment and financing.
"These efforts are set to tackle worries for private companies, so that they can focus on development," said Dong Yu, the executive vice president of the China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University.
The meeting said China should expand its high-standard opening up and keep foreign trade and foreign investment stable. Efforts should be made to introduce more autonomous and unilateral opening-up policies, and promote the development of trade in services, green trade and digital trade, according to the meeting.
"For example, we took the initiative to adjust export tax rebates. We also promoted the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) upgrade negotiations," said Niu Li, the deputy director of the economic forecasting department at the State Information Center (SIC) under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Experts share insights into centerpiece of China's key economic tasks in 2025
Switzerland, known for its pristine lakes and rich tradition of fishing, is facing a significant challenge of plunging fish stocks that could threaten the livelihood of many in the fisheries industry.
In recent years, local fishermen have seen their catches decline drastically, with about 90 percent of the fish consumed in the country now being imported. This shift reflects broader environmental changes impacting Swiss fisheries, and the difficulties local fishermen are enduring are becoming more evident each year.
At seven in the morning, as the first light of dawn begins to break, a handful of fishermen at a dock in Geneva prepare to head out to the lake to check the nets they set the previous day. As the long nets were hauled from the water, the catch of perch was relatively small, but the fishermen were still satisfied, especially since they managed to net two large pike, which would fetch a good price.
Francois Liani, a fisherman of 30 years, said 2024 has been the worst year for fishing with the lowest amount of catch.
"I have never seen anything like this in over 30 years. That's right, 2024 is the worst year in the past 30 years," he said.
Fifty years ago, there were more than 800 professional fishermen in Switzerland. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than 90.
"There are many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is global warming -- it is one of the biggest problems. We have also new mussels that come from the Black Sea on the Eastern Europe that came about five, seven years ago. They have a large impact on the food availability for the fishes," said Maxime Prevedello, communication officer for the French-speaking region of the Swiss Fishing Federation (SFV).
As a result, the growth rate of fish has slowed significantly. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, a professional fisherman was able to catch around 1,000 tons of fish annually. Today, that number has dropped to just around 100 tons -- a mere one-tenth of what it used to be, according to Prevedello.
In the summer of 2024, Switzerland once again endured high temperatures. Native fish species such as perch, grayling, and the Alpine char, which have adapted to cold water, have been particularly affected. According to Switzerland's environmental authorities, 58 percent of the country's native fish species are now classified as endangered.
Swiss fishermen face growing struggle as local fish stocks plunge
