The Chinese Communist Party set out priorities for its economic policies in the second half of this year, pledging to enable its macro policies to play a proactive role in boosting demand and to increase credit support to businesses in a bid to attain the best possible economic growth this year. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC chaired by General Secretary Xi Jinping highlighted the need to consolidate the momentum of economic recovery, stabilize the job market and commodity prices, and maintain major economic indicators within a proper range.
The tone-setting meeting came after China’s economy grew 0.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, posting 2.5% growth in the first half of the year, as the world’s second-largest economy was battered by a surge in Covid-19 cases in Shanghai and other manufacturing hubs in eastern China. China set the target of around 5.5% for its GDP growth in 2022 during the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in March this year. In coordinating efforts to fight the pandemic and pursue economic and social development, the meeting highlighted the need to adopt a comprehensive, holistic and long-term perspective, saying that political considerations should be the priority.
The Politburo Members reaffirmed the nation’s dynamic zero-Covid strategy, saying that new outbreaks must be contained immediately and there should be zero complacency in fighting the pandemic. The monitoring of new variants of the coronavirus and the research and development of new vaccines and pharmaceuticals should be stepped up, they said. The meeting pledged support to local authorities to take full advantage of special-purpose bonds, which totaled CNY3.65 trillion this year.
The government will ensure reasonable and ample liquidity in monetary policy to scale up credit support to businesses and put new loans from policy banks and investment funds for infrastructure to proper use. The meeting highlighted the need to bolster the stability and global competitiveness of industry and supply chains, ensure unimpeded transportation and logistics, and support the nation’s central and western regions in improving their infrastructure and business climate. The nation will reinforce its efforts to ensure food security, improve its ability, guarantee the supply of energy and resources, and plan the development of a system for the supply and use of new energy.
Homebuyers seeking to meet their basic needs and those trying to improve their housing conditions will receive support, and local authorities must ensure that real estate developers deliver their projects. The meeting underscored the need to properly defuse risks from village and township banks in some areas and crack down on financial crimes. It reaffirmed the importance of promoting the standardized, healthy and sustainable growth of the platform economy, the China Daily reports.
