Beijing has pledged to step up macro policy support and enhance the resilience of capital markets for the remainder of the year, following a slowdown in second-quarter economic growth and rising volatility in global stock exchanges.After a meeting of the Communist Party’s 21-member Politburo – a major decision-making body led by President Xi Jinping – that ended on Thursday, the party’s upper echelon vowed to accelerate the pace of fiscal spending and speed up the transition from old to new growth drivers.“[We need to] fully leverage the effectiveness of existing policies and roll out practical and effective incremental measures in a timely manner,” the Politburo said, according to a statement published by state news agency Xinhua.It also urged the country to “expand the scope for mutually beneficial international economic and trade cooperation” and “promote more balanced trade development.”The bureau also said the fifth plenary session of the party’s powerful Central Committee would be held in October. This session carries particular importance, as it comes a year before the party’s next national congress, when a major leadership reshuffle is expected and Xi could be elected to a fourth term as general secretary.China’s economy grew 4.7 per cent in the first half of the year. While this put the country largely on track to meet its annual growth target of between 4.5 and 5 per cent, economic momentum has lagged in recent months.