At a recent meeting to study and analyze economic work for next year, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China vowed to rejuvenate the real economy - manufacturing and services - and foster new dynamism in the sector.

This is a significant and positive policy reaffirmation, because without the development of the real economy, it is difficult to realize sustainable and steady economic growth as decades of breakneck, extensive and resources-exhaustive growth have exacerbated China's economic imbalance. Now that the top leadership has resolved to boost the real economy, the next move should be to find ways and means to address the most serious difficulties the sector is facing.

How to solve the problem of high costs the real economy faces remains a pressing and ticklish issue. High costs are a widespread economic and social issue for China's real economy, especially for enterprises running resource-intensive industries, and the financing and taxation sectors, all of which cannot be resolved at the enterprise level. Decision-makers must take them into consideration and pursue their settlement from the policy and institutional levels. Otherwise, it will be difficult to meet any promises to boost the development of the real economy.