Robust policy efforts to aid stable growth
More support for real economy with greater intensity, says vice-premier
China is fully confident and capable of achieving sustainable and healthy economic development.
HAN ZHENG Vice-Premier
China has vowed to make concerted efforts to get the economy through challenges at home and abroad, boosting market confidence that the nation’s economy will maintain a steady performance this year.
Despite downward economic pressure, China is fully confident and capable of achieving sustainable and healthy economic development, Vice-Premier Han Zheng said while meeting domestic and foreign entrepreneurs on April 21 during the Boao Forum in Hainan province.
This year, macroeconomic policies will feature greater intensity, more support for the real economy and the grassroots, and early implementation, Han said.
Efforts will be made to minimize the economic impact of COVID-19, ensure the stability of industrial chains and energy supply, and improve the business environment with equal treatment for all types of market players, Xinhua News Agency quoted Han as saying.
Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank, also vowed at the forum to beef up efforts for the real economy by maintaining an accommodative monetary policy throughout the year.
Yi also stressed the central bank’s commitment to maintaining price stability. “Price stability is our policy priority,” Yi said while addressing a session of the forum on April 22.
Experts said the remarks signaled that stronger policy efforts on multiple fronts could be in the pipeline to shore up the economy.
After registering better-thanexpected GDP growth of 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, China’s economy now faces more headwinds as resurgence of COVID-19 hurts domestic demand and supply chain stability.
Unstable external factors are also on the rise as geopolitical tensions have inflated global energy and food prices while monetary tightening by developed economies has tightened global liquidity conditions.
With multi-pronged policy support and better containment of COVID-19, China’s economy is expected to rebound in the second half of the year after slowing down in the second quarter, said Hu Yifan, head of macroeconomics for Asia-Pacific at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Hu said she expects China to implement supportive policies at a faster pace, which could possibly include stronger measures to boost consumption.
Wen Bin, chief researcher at China Minsheng Bank, said the central bank could make further use of structural monetary tools to support agricultural production and the efficient use of coal, helping to reinforce the foundations of a stable price environment.