China vows in politburo meeting to support firms, workers affected by U. S. tariffs

China‘s top policymakers pledged to support firms and workers most affected by the impact of triple-digit U.S. tariffs, the ruling Communist Party’s politburo said on Friday (April 25, 2025), according to state media.

The politburo, a top policy decision-making body, reiterated plans to accelerate debt issuance, ease monetary policy and vowed to support employers to safeguard jobs, in an effort to maintain stability at home as China hunkers down for a prolonged trade war with the United States.

“The fundamentals of China’s sustained economic recovery needs to be further consolidated, and the impact of external shocks is rising,” said a state media Xinhua report on the politburo meeting on Friday (April 25, 2025).

“We will strive to stabilise employment, enterprises, markets, and expectations, and respond to the uncertainty of rapid changes in the external environment with the certainty of high-quality development.”

The meeting urged preparing for “worst-case scenarios” with sufficient planning, and taking concrete steps to do a good job in economic work, Xinhua reported.

Specifically, the country will increase the proportion of unemployment insurance funds that can be returned to companies that are greatly affected by tariffs, in a bid to stabilise jobs, according to the readout.

“Multiple measures should be taken to help enterprises in difficulty. [We should] strengthen financing support and accelerate the integration of domestic sales and foreign trade,” Xinhua reported.

The country will also cut interest rates and banks reserve requirement ratio “in a timely manner” and develop consumption in the services sector, according to the readout.

China’s economy grew 5.4% in the first quarter, beating expectations, but markets fear a sharp downturn in the year ahead as U.S. tariffs pose biggest risks to the world’s second-largest economy in decades.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent struck a more conciliatory tone this week, saying the tariffs were unsustainable and signaling openness to de-escalating the trade war. But Beijing called on Washington to remove the tariffs to create space for talks.