BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has called for striving to realize economic development goals in 2023 at a meeting recently.

The CPC Central Committee held the symposium with non-CPC personages on July 21 to seek opinions and suggestions on the country's current economic situation and economic work for the second half of the year. Xi presided over the symposium and delivered an important speech.

To do the economic work well for the second half of the year, the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability should continue to be followed, Xi said.

Efforts should be made to fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerate the building of a new pattern of development, comprehensively deepen reform and opening up, intensify macro regulation, expand domestic demand, boost confidence and prevent risks, he said.

He also stressed pushing for the continued improvement of the economic performance, endogenous driving force and social expectations, continuously defusing risks and hidden dangers, and effectively upgrading and appropriately expanding China's economic output.

Li Qiang, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang, members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting. Li briefed on the economic work in the first half of the year and the planning for the second half.

Leaders of eight non-CPC parties, head of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and a representative of personages without party affiliation made remarks respectively at the meeting, raising suggestions on topics such as promoting high-level opening-up, accelerating the development of artificial intelligence, speeding up the development of biomedicine, and promoting new-type consumption.

Xi said that under the CPC leadership, the Chinese economy continued to recover in the first half of the year, with solid progress made in high-quality development.

China's economic recovery speed took the lead among major economies, with sound economic fundamentals unchanged in the long run and a bright prospect, he said.

To cope with prominent challenges in the economic operation, efforts should be made to strengthen macro-control and expand demand, Xi said.

He called for pushing forward industrial upgrades and optimization, deepening reform and high-level opening up, preventing and defusing risks in key areas, and ensuring and improving people's wellbeing, so as to realize continuous economic growth and development goals in 2023.

Xi expressed gratitude to the non-CPC parties and personages as their proposals and suggestions on major issues, such as restoring and expanding consumption, accelerating high-quality development of digital economy, and promoting the optimization and upgrading of key industrial chains of manufacturing industry, had provided important references for the scientific decision-making of the CPC Central Committee.

He expressed the hope that they will continue to comprehensively understand and accurately grasp the policies and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee, make research and offer suggestions on major issues including infrastructure construction, modernization of the industrial system, and reforms in key areas, and build consensus and confidence to further stimulate vitality of business entities.

(Source: Xinhua)