China signaled on Thursday it will rely on fiscal stimulus to manage the economy in 2026, pledging to maintain a “necessary” budget deficit and debt levels to shore up growth while tackling local government financial strains.

China’s consumer-price growth accelerated to the fastest in over a year as food costs rose sharply higher, an improvement that’s failing to allay fears about the depth of deflation across large swathes of the economy.

China's premier says higher tariffs have dealt a "severe blow" to the world economy, even as China's own trade surplus has surged past $1 trillion.

Chinese leaders promised on Thursday to maintain a "proactive" fiscal policy next year that would stimulate both consumption and investment to maintain high economic growth, which analysts expect Beijing to target at roughly 5%.

China’s renminbi is lagging the currencies of key trading partners, making Chinese goods and services cheap and helping to drive exports.

B aijiu, China’s favourite firewater, is losing its bite. This year retail prices have been hovering around the benchmark of 1,499 yuan ($212) a bottle, as set by Kweichow Moutai, a state-owned giant.

China is likely to stick to its current annual economic growth target of around 5% next year, government advisers and analysts said, a goal that would require authorities to keep fiscal and monetary spigots open as they seek to snap a deflationary spell.