CHINA PLANS MORE MEASURES TO OPEN UP ECONOMY
Move to attract global investors, says top financial adviser
CHINA will introduce more reform measures to open up its economy this year, said Liu He, the top financial and economic adviser to President Xi Jinping.
“Some measures would exceed the expectations of the international community,” said Liu on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting here, without specifying what the new policies would be.
“Opening up is not only important for China, but also for the whole world,” he said, adding that a fresh reform push was a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the nation’s shift away from a closed Communist system.
Further measures to encourage international investors and make the world’s second-largest economy more accessible are on the agenda for China at a time when the threat of a full-scale trade war with the United States is rising.
As it battles pollution, poverty and financial risk, the economy needs all the growth drivers it can muster to offset the impact of upgrades which are potentially painful in the short-term.
“If they follow through on implementing these steps, it would be quite a positive,” said Jim O’Neill, former chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“Donald Trump’s advisers will need a new whipping horse.”
Liu, who was elevated to the Communist Party’s 25-member Politburo in October after many years of guiding economic policy behind the scenes, is taking on more public roles and seen as in line to become vice premier this year.
The potential promotion may mean he’ll lead the State Council’s Financial Stability and Development Committee, a new organisation charged with corralling China’s disparate financial regulators and defusing risks.