China's top economic planner has identified weak domestic demand as one of the country's key economic challenges, pledging fresh support for private investment and new business measures for 2027. The National Development and Reform Commission, known as the NDRC, said its chairman, Zheng Shanjie, discussed the economic outlook with executives from private companies at a meeting on 6 November. The agency said it would work to stimulate private investment, speed up major projects and strengthen economic monitoring, while continuing to prepare support measures for next year.

Business representatives at the meeting proposed expanding private companies' access to financing and providing additional support for energy supplies, according to the commission's account of the talks. No specific details of the new measures have been disclosed. The statement comes against a weak consumer backdrop. Official data showed retail sales rose by just 1.1 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2026, while China's economy grew 4.6 percent over the same period.

Fixed-asset investment contracted 7.2 percent and property investment fell 20.6 percent in the first nine months of the year, underlining the drag on the wider economy from weak household spending and the prolonged property downturn. Zheng said the country needed to withstand external shocks and address the imbalance between abundant supply and insufficient demand, while viewing the current situation in a comprehensive and long-term way.

The commission's emphasis on private investment reflects its central role in stabilising economic activity and expanding employment, a point Zheng made at the meeting, even as many private firms continue to face pressure from shifting conditions at home and abroad.

[Source: tradersunion.com](https://tradersunion.com/news/economic-data/show/4145588-chinese-authorities-identify-weak/) | [Source: ianslive.in](https://ianslive.in/chinas-manufacturing-strength-cannot-offset-its-domestic-demand-weakness-report--20261104160900)