Steady as she goes, for China in 2015

BEIJING - China will strive to keep economic growth steady in 2015, sticking to a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, said a statement released after a crucial economic policy meeting on Thursday.

Continuity and stability are key to macroeconomic policies. "The proactive fiscal policy should be stronger and the prudent monetary policy should be more pragmatic," said the statement.

The Central Economic Work Conference maps out China's economic policies and priorities for the following year. The meeting is especially crucial after something of a rocky year. In the third quarter, growth slid to a low not seen since the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, dragged down by a housing slowdown, softening domestic demand and unsteady exports.

The meeting called for a balance between stabilizing growth and restructuring, and sticking to the overall principle of keeping macroeconomic policies stable, microeconomic policies flexible and social policies supportive of people's needs.

In 2015, the authorities should pay high attention to the emergence and development of risk and mitigate them, said the statement.