Old Xi speech on China front pages shows urgency to fix economy

Xi's public comments have largely emphasised the need for China to stick to Covid Zero.- Reuters

BEIJING (Bloomberg): A six-month-old speech by President Xi Jinping on the need to preserve jobs and shore up growth was splashed across China’s main financial newspapers on Monday (May 16), signaling greater urgency to bolster the economy after lockdowns brought Shanghai and other major cities to a halt.

Xi’s speech, delivered on Dec 8 at the Central Economic Work Conference, was first published Sunday by the Communist Party’s Qiushi magazine and then on the front pages of Monday’s People’s Daily, China Securities Journal and other state-owned papers. In the remarks, Xi voiced support for the "healthy development” of the private sector and entrepreneurs, but also warned that regulators must prevent "capital predators” from acting recklessly.