After an annual planning meeting, Communist Party leaders also promised to reduce financial risks and rein in rising debt that has prompted concern about possible threats to China's financial system.
The leadership under President Xi Jinping is in the midst of a multi-year effort to nurture slower, more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption instead of trade and investment. Growth has slowed more abruptly than expected over the past two years, forcing the party to juggle competing demands of shoring up the expansion while keeping reforms on track.
The statement also gave no details of how key issues such as the status of state companies that dominate industries from banking to energy to telecoms would be affected.
Economic growth decelerated to a six-year low of 6.9 percent in the quarter ending in September and the International Monetary Fund and private sector forecasters expect it to fall as low as 6 percent next year. Communist leaders insist they are comfortable with slower growth after the last decade's explosive double-digit expansion but face pressure to avoid a spike in job losses.
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Beijing will "resolve excess capacity," the statement said, a reference to industries including steel, cement, glass and solar panels in which supply exceeds demand.
That glut has led to price-cutting wars that threaten the financial health of companies. Regulators want to promote consolidation through mergers but face resistance from local officials who are reluctant to lose jobs and tax revenue. Today's statement suggested local leaders might come under increased pressure from Beijing to cooperate.
Reform advocates complain the ruling party is dragging its feet on promises to open industries dominated by politically favored state companies that benefit from monopolies, low-cost loans and other favors.
Party leaders also "vowed to take further steps to guard against and defuse financial risks," the statement said. Financial analysts have warned China's financial system faces mounting risks due to soaring levels of debt. A largely unregulated industry of private sector finance companies that flourished over the past decade has suffered rising defaults as economic growth slows, causing losses for depositors and a spate of protests.