Local governments signal their policy priorities for new year

In what has now become almost a tradition in Chinese politics, many local authorities hosted a high-level conference on the first workday in the Year of the Horse, with many local governments signaling their policy priorities for 2026, the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

At its first meeting after the Spring Festival holiday, South China's Guangdong province focused on the integrated development of manufacturing and service industries. Leading officials, economic experts, and company representatives shared their opinions on the high-quality development of Guangdong on Tuesday, and supportive policies on the topic were unveiled.

The province's GDP has remained the first among all provincial-level regions for 37 years, with a remarkable 14.58 trillion yuan last year. Manufacturing and service are its pillar industries.

Northeast China's Liaoning province's conference focused on revitalization, with a goal to see a significant improvement in the business environment in the short term. Central China's Hunan province discussed the promotion of the private economy and rolled out measures for its Enterprise Service Year campaign.

East China's Anhui province's meeting highlighted the role of scientific and technological innovation in driving the development of new quality productive forces. Anhui is a major source of sci-tech innovation, with core strengths in quantum information, fusion energy, and deep space exploration.

South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region's conference was themed on "resolving long-standing conflicts, safeguarding people's interests, and promoting stability". It pledged to tackle long-pending cases and address problems that "harm the relations between the Party, the government, and the people".

Chen Gang, Party secretary of Guangxi, said at the event that officials at all levels should foster and practice a correct view on political achievements, whose ideas include "doing solid work, embracing innovation, letting results speak and the people judge".

Likewise, on its first meeting of the Chinese New Year, Central China's Hubei province introduced the plan to strengthen the competence of officials, solving problems of "reckless, passive, timid, and incompetent" conduct. The goal is to enhance their political integrity, ability to drive high-quality development, sense of responsibility, and resilience against corruption, Hubei Daily reported.