China seeks ways to revive slowing economy and salvage property market

abcnews.go.com:

China's efforts to restore confidence and rev up the economy will top the agenda during this month’s meeting of the ceremonial national legislature

BEIJING — It's clear that China’s efforts to build confidence in its slowing economy will top the agenda of its ceremonial national legislature, which convenes Tuesday in Beijing.

What remains unclear is how the ruling Communist Party can navigate toward stronger, sustained growth as China’s workforce is aging, relations with Washington are fraught, and housing construction — a main driver of the economy — is in crisis.

Hopes for a strong, consumer-led recovery after severe anti-virus controls ended in late 2022 have not been fulfilled. Local governments are mired in trillions of dollars of debt and direct investment by foreign companies in China fell by about 80% last year.

As more than 5,000 leaders from across China are gathered in Beijing for the year’s biggest political events, the mood on the streets and in financial markets remains glum.

That's in contrast to official messaging as the country marks 75 years from the People’s Republic's founding in 1949.

“We are confident of consolidating and enhancing the recovering and growing trend of the economy,” the party newspaper People’s Daily wrote in a commentary Saturday.

“We are fully capable of turning pressure into a driving force, accumulating and turning advantages into victorious trends and steering the advance of the great ship of the economy while braving wind and waves,” it added.

For videographer Wang Tao, the question is what the leadership will do about jobs. At 41, he's struggling to find work in a labor market where companies tend not to hire anyone over 35.

“At first I thought it was difficult only for older