China’s new ‘invest in people’ slogan heralds a rethink in economic strategy

Beijing’s fresh imperative to “invest in people” – first raised in a proposal for the 15th five-year plan and reaffirmed at an agenda-setting policy meeting last week – reflects a rethink in economic strategy designed to stimulate domestic demand and improve social welfare, analysts said. China’s leaders vowed to “fully tap” the domestic economy’s potential at the annual central economic work conference held last week, which laid out their economic policy priorities for 2026. A readout from the...