Raft of measures will keep economy strong

Source: Xinhua | 2019-03-07

CHINA’S economy will continue to maintain the momentum of sound development, as the country announced a raft of measures in a government work report to boost development in 2019, an official said yesterday.

“The economy will continue to see steady growth and make new progress, and the country will be able to realize its projected targets,” He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

China set its 2019 GDP growth target at 6-6.5 percent and consumer inflation target at around 3 percent, according to the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.

The range target came after the Chinese economy outperformed the 2018 official projection of around 6.5 percent to grow 6.6 percent.

“Amid great downward pressure on the economy and drastic fluctuation of the world economy last year, it was indeed not easy for China to have achieved such results,” Li added.

He also mentioned China’s improving business environment as China advanced to a global ranking of 46 for ease of doing business in 2018, up from 78 for 2017, according to a World Bank Group report released last year.

“This shows the constant improvement in our business environment, and greater progress might be made this year,” He said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government will ensure its infrastructure investment will be more targeted.

He said measures are being taken to prevent investment made by all levels of governments from causing new debts or resulting in half-finished projects.

Financing will support projects that are under construction or new ones that serve overall economic and social needs.

According to the government work report, China will expand infrastructure investment in 2019, including 800 billion yuan (US$119 billion) in railway construction and 1.8 trillion yuan in road construction and waterway projects.

About 577.6 billion yuan is included in the central government budget for related investment this year.

He said the government will use its spending and industrial policies to stimulate more private investment.

Last year, private capital made up about 62 percent of the total fixed-asset investment, he said. About 35 percent of these private investments went to manufacturing and equipment upgrading.

The official said more will be done to boost private investment for national economic and social development.

Robust domestic market

China’s huge population, growing new economic momentum, ongoing urbanization and rising spending power of residents all point to the development of a robust domestic market, He said.

The country’s domestic markets of consumer goods and means of production are gigantic, given the nearly 1.4 billion population and an estimated 110 million market entities.

New industries, new types of business and new business models have been rapidly growing, accounting for 15.7 percent of China’s GDP last year.

Noting that the spending power of China’s urban and rural residents keeps growing, He said sectors such as elderly and child care, automobile, and home appliances will generate massive market opportunities.

People’s income increase

The NDRC is implementing a raft of measures to boost consumption, He said, adding that the domestic market will keep growing with supportive policies put in place and more high-quality products and services available.

Ning Jizhe, vice head of the NDRC, said efforts will be made to further increase people’s incomes, including ensuring stable economic growth and employment, reducing burdens of taxes and fees, and improving incomes of skilled workers and farmers, as well as scientists and researchers.

The country will encourage consumption of certain products such as new-energy cars and environment-friendly household appliances, and boost tourism, film, health care, baby and aged care, housekeeping and other service markets, Ning said.

Lian Weiliang, vice director of the top economic planner, said: “The care of infants, children and the elderly is the most important issue in public well-being, and the issue concerns all families.”

China will greatly increase the number of beds at elderly care facilities within the next three to five years and make efforts to improve the quality of infant, children and the elderly care, Lian said.

Ning added that the government will promote consumption by people in rural areas, enabling more of them to get access to e-commerce and high-quality products.

Consumer spending contributed to 76.2 percent of China’s GDP growth last year, making it the largest contributor to the country’s economic growth for six years in a row, he said.

China will roll out more reforms in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing and service sectors, and allow wholly foreign-funded enterprises to operate in more sectors.

The government will further shorten the negative list which outlines the various fields off limits to foreign investors, said Ning.

A new list outlining industries that encourage foreign investment will be released this year.

In addition, foreign investors will enjoy equal treatment in market access in sectors outside the negative list and fair treatment in terms of government purchase, registration and other post-establishment activities.

China will facilitate foreign investment in sectors such as new energy, advanced manufacturing, petrochemicals, electronics as well as information.

The annual legislative session will later review a draft foreign investment law to attract foreign investment and protect foreign investors’ legitimate rights and interests.

China bucked a global trend of foreign direct investment decline in 2018 by attracting about US$135 billion, up 3 percent year on year.

China will equally protect different types of shareholder’s property and rights in mixed-ownership enterprises.

It will encourage social capital to enter key areas of mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises, and make sure the shareholders can exercise their rights in accordance with their ownership, Lian said.

Since 2016, China has selected 50 SOEs in three batches to conduct the pilot reform in fields including power, energy, civil aviation, telecommunications and defense.

This year, China will select the fourth batch of more than 100 SOEs to take part in the pilot reform, Lian said.

Mixed ownership is believed to be vital to deepening SOE reform as it can improve efficiency and competitiveness of state-owned assets.

Innovation in Greater Bay

China will take measures to improve the overall innovation capability in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

An international sci-tech and innovation center will be built between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, covering an area of 3.89 square kilometers, and another one between Macau and Zhuhai, He said.

The measures also include the development of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macau innovation and technology corridor as well as a Hong Kong innovation research institute to be set up by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.