China’s leaders vow to fight ‘risks’ plaguing economy

Beijing leaders vow to address economic risks, but offer no concrete steps, leaving China's financial woes unresolved.

Beijing's leaders vowed on July 18 to resolve "risks" plaguing China's economy, but were yet to offer any concrete steps to pull the country out of its financial woes.

The world's second-largest economy is grappling with a property debt crisis, weakening consumption, and an ageing population.

All eyes were on how this week's Third Plenum meeting of the Communist Party in Beijing, attended by President Xi Jinping, might tackle that deepening economic malaise.

But few new policies were announced as the meeting wrapped up Thursday.

State news agency Xinhua said they had agreed to "prevent and resolve risks in key areas such as real estate, (and) local government debt".

They also vowed to "actively expand domestic demand", state media reported, after data this week showed retail sales — a key gauge of consumption — rose just 2% in June.

Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, said the readout offered "nothing out of expectation as it just confirms existing policies."