Li urges more measures to spur growth
Premier sees need to help businesses, stabilize job market amid pandemic
Policies already rolled out must be put in place as soon as possible.
LI KEQIANG
Premier
Premier Li Keqiang has urged a quicker rollout of financial support measures to businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that some companies are at a key juncture for survival as the nation grapples with its biggest COVID-19 challenge since the early days of the outbreak.
Li made the remark during a twoday inspection tour, from April 11, in Jiangxi province, where he spoke with business leaders, farmers and construction workers and held a symposium with governors from five provinces.
Li highlighted the need to expedite the implementation of aid packages for businesses and come up with a strong response to the unexpected changes in both domestic and international environments.
During a visit to a construction site of a water conservancy project in the province, he called for quicker issuance and use of special bonds, greater credit support and improved efficiency in project approval to expand effective investment and create more jobs for migrant workers.
The premier visited Meifanco, a cross-border e-commerce platform, where he encouraged the company to help more people start businesses and find jobs.
He reiterated the significance of spurring market vitality and social creativity with the deepening of reform and encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation to enable new business models to blossom.
Li spoke with farmers at a rice paddy in Hengfeng county, where he called for continuous efforts to stabilize the prices of production materials for agricultural production.
He pledged to issue new subsidies to farmers if the price of agricultural production materials remains high in autumn.
The premier visited a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, one of China’s largest private carmakers.
He encouraged carmakers to roll out more products that are of high quality and safe.
During exchanges with executives of small and medium-sized enterprises, Li was told that they are still troubled by gridlocks in logistics, which has increased their stockpiles.
He called for quicker steps in tax refunds to deliver true benefits to the businesses at an early date.
The premier reiterated the importance of ensuring the orderly operation of transport networks and domestic and global logistics for the stability of industry and supply chains. He encouraged businesses to try their best to stabilize payrolls.
Earlier, on April 7, Li called for heightened steps to stabilize economic growth as he highlighted mounting uncertainties and challenges facing the economy as the nation grapples with new COVID-19 outbreaks.
Presiding over a symposium on the performance of the economy, the premier stressed the need for more proactive measures to stabilize growth, especially in relation to the job market and commodity prices.
Policy measures must be frontloaded and scaled up when appropriate, while policies already rolled out must be in place at the earliest, he said.
Policies that are in the pipeline should be introduced at an earlier date, and new plans should be considered, the premier added.
Li underlined the complex and evolving global landscape and the frequent recent COVID-19 outbreaks as headwinds facing the economy, saying that some issues of concern have “exceeded expectations”.
The purchasing managers’ index for China’s manufacturing sector stood at 49.5 in March, compared with 50.2 in February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, slipping into contraction after staying in expansionary territory for four consecutive months.
Li reiterated the role of market players as key pillars to stabilize economic fundamentals, saying that the government must help smaller firms and self-employed individuals who are now faced with operational difficulties.
He pointed to grain production, the supply of energy and unimpeded logistics as key factors underpinning the stability of commodity prices.
The government must scale up its assistance for sectors closely related to consumer spending, including the retail, catering and tourism sectors, he said.