Editor’s note for Wednesday, December 16, 2020

My thoughts today:

Beijing has a new economic policy buzzword to match “supply-side reform,” a slogan introduced in 2015 by Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, which is usually taken to mean the reduction of excess capacity and misallocated investment. The new phrase is “demand-side reform,” and seems to mean the stimulation of domestic consumption.  

Caixin says that the “greater focus on demand-side reform comes amid concern that the recovery of domestic consumption has lagged behind the rebound in exports and investment.” The new phrase can be added to the growing lexicon of Xi Jinping economic thought, alongside “dual circulation,” which is also connected to stimulating consumer demand.    

Our words of the day are supply-side structural reform and demand-side reform (供给侧结构性改革 gōngjǐ cè jiégòuxìng gǎigé, 需求侧改革 xūqiú cè gǎigé).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief