People wearing face masks walk past a street amid snowfall after the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a shopping district in Beijing, China, March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
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BEIJING, April 29 (Reuters) – China will ramp up political support to stabilize the economy as domestic COVID-19 outbreaks and war in Ukraine heighten risks, state media quoted the Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party say on Friday.
Chinese policymakers face an uphill battle to stave off an economic slowdown that threatens job losses in a politically sensitive year as COVID-19 lockdowns disrupt supply chains and shake businesses. Continue reading
China will adopt a package of measures to help COVID-hit industries and small businesses, the media reports added, citing a Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping.
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“The COVID-19 and Ukraine crises have resulted in increased risks and challenges. The complexity, severity and uncertainty of China’s economic development environment have increased,” the Politburo was quoted as saying.
“The stabilization of growth, employment and prices faces new challenges. It is very important to do good work in economic work and to effectively protect and improve people’s livelihoods.”
Financial markets have been hit hard over the past two weeks amid fears lockdowns in China would severely damage its economy and derail a global recovery as many countries recover from pandemic-related slumps.
But the Politburo said authorities would continue to implement the controversial dynamic zero-COVID policy to control the outbreaks while minimizing the impact on the economy.
China will boost domestic demand, boost investment and speed up infrastructure construction, the Politburo said, pledging to ensure smooth transportation, logistics and supply chains.
On Tuesday, Xi chaired a high-level meeting that announced a major infrastructure push to boost demand, reiterating Beijing’s preference for large-scale projects to boost growth. Continue reading
China will strive to keep economic growth within reasonable bounds and meet social and economic targets for 2022, the Politburo said.
Analysts believe more stimulus measures will be needed if the government is to meet its growth target of around 5.5% for 2022.
“We should speed up the implementation of measures, implement tax rebates, tax and fee cuts and other measures, and make good use of all kinds of monetary policy tools,” it said.
It will also support healthy real estate market development and ensure stable functioning of capital markets while protecting against systemic risks.
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Reporting by Kevin Yao and the Beijing Newsroom; Edited by Shri Navaratnam and Stephen Coates
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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