China vows to make stabilising growth a higher priority

HONG KONG: China’s top economic planning agency says it will make stabilising the economy a higher priority, as it expects hard work will be needed to sustain growth in the remainder of the year.

Recent covid outbreaks in the country and the “complicated international environment” mean that “arduous efforts” will be needed to ensure economic growth stays on track in the fourth quarter, said Meng Wei, spokeswoman of the National Development and Reform Commission.

“Stabilising growth will be put in an even more important position,” she said at a regular monthly briefing.

China’s economic activity weakened in October, with consumption contracting for the first time since May, laying bare the damage from Covid lockdowns and restrictions and the shrinking housing market.

The slowdown has put pressure on Beijing to ramp up support, with the government introducing major changes in the past week to reduce the drag on consumers from zero-covid policies and rein in the property slump.

Refining Covid controls will facilitate the smooth operation of the economy and help market demand to recover, Meng said. The foundation of economic recovery will become more solid and it’s possible the growth will pick up, she added.

A total of 740 billion yuan (Us$104bil or Rm474bil) raised through policy bank financing tools has all been invested and construction on most of the projects that received money has started, Meng said.

The tools played an “active role” in stabilising investment by maintaining spending on infrastructure in the face of the plunge in real-estate investment, she said.

The money was invested in projects such as a high-speed rail link between Beijing, Xiong’an in Hebei province and Shangqiu in Henan province, water conservation projects, and solar, wind and nuclear power plants, she said.