Experts laud nation’s policy priorities

China’s efforts to prioritize its economic stability are significant in many ways, experts said, as the nation’s consistency and policies offer good prospects for benefits through shared development during the postpandemic recovery.

On March 5, Premier Li Keqiang delivered the Government Work Report to the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress, in which he expounded on the “milestone” year 2021 and major tasks ahead.

Gerald Mbanda, a Rwandan researcher and publisher on China and Africa, said the Government Work Report was “impressive” as most of the socioeconomic development targets had been achieved and some exceeded their goals.

China “has offered a great lesson that irrespective of political, economic, and racial differences, the world community can enjoy the benefits of shared development, rather than competing in isolation,” Mbanda said.

The premier also announced a series of targets for China’s development in 2022. These include GDP growth of about 5.5 percent, some 11 million new urban jobs, achieving stable macroeconomic performance, maintaining job security, expanding high-level opening-up and achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality.

Muhammad Faisal, a research fellow at the China-Pakistan Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, said this year’s NPC session was “significant in many ways for focusing on … (national) economic recovery and growth after the pandemic”.

“Although the set target of economic growth of around 5.5 percent is the second-lowest target during the past three decades, it indicates that China’s economy is rebounding after extensive pandemic-induced lockdowns,” Faisal said.

He welcomed China prioritizing its economic stability in 2022 by offering new measures like tax cuts for businesses and the construction sector.

The premier announced a new package of tax refunds and cuts totaling 2.5 trillion yuan ($395.62 billion) this year to support enterprises.

Dennis Munene, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Africa Policy Institute, said the report clearly shows China’s commitment to offering its citizens “strategic public goods” to spur economic growth and development in the post-COVID-19 era.

Munene said the new package of tax-and-fee policies for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises is conducive to improving their cash flow, promoting consumption-driven investment, and further improving the system for refunding value-added tax credits.

Glenn Wijaya, an adviser to the Center for Indonesia-China Studies, welcomed China’s consistent efforts in prioritizing the green sector.

“Green economy is something that is already ingrained (in China) ...Low carbon is a good illustration of this. It is something that is mandated by law,” Wijaya said.

China “will lead other major nations in reducing carbon emissions, because ...it is consistent throughout, from political pronouncements to laws and regulations that influence businesses,” he said.

Mbanda said China’s leadership puts checks and balances in place, through supervisory committees, as well as monitoring and an evaluation mechanism to ensure that the set targets on the mission and vision of the country are being implemented as planned.

“Although difficult challenges were met, the work report’s great achievements give the Chinese people courage and strength to push forward with confidence in the leadership …” Mbanda said.