China’s government to ramp up measures to bolster economy
The Chinese government is set to fund key projects in an attempt to bolster the economy and tackle the challenges faced by the private enterprises, according to the country’s top economic regulator.
Liu Sushe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the country will accelerate the issuance of local government special bonds and speed up the implementation of the central budget investment plan as it aims to hit its annual growth target for 2024.
“So far, China has already allocated more than 200 billion yuan ($27.63 billion) of the investment plan within the central government budget, accounting for over 30% of the total plan for 2024,” Liu said. “The commission has completed the preliminary screening of this year’s local government special bond projects. And the Ministry of Finance is currently reviewing the balance of project financing and revenues, and localities are also preparing for projects in advance.”
He said the country has drafted an action plan to support its key strategies and enhance its capacities to ensure security in key areas; with this in mind, the government will issue 1 trillion yuan in ultra-long-term special-purpose treasury bonds this year.
The focus will be on achieving greater self-reliance in science and technology, promoting integrated urban and rural development, facilitating coordinated regional development, enhancing the capabilities of ensuring grain and energy security and spurring high-quality development of the population, Liu said.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows China’s economy beat expectations to expand by 5.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, following a 5.2% gain in the fourth quarter of last year.
Yuan Da, deputy secretary-general of the NDRC, said that private enterprises still face difficulties and hurdles, and the NDRC will ramp up efforts to support their development.
“We will help accelerate the legislative process for the private economy promotion law,” Yuan said. “More efforts will be made to further tackle issues faced by the private sector and create a better environment.”
As the broader economy is still facing both internal and external pressures, Yuan said the country will step up macroeconomic policy support, and more efforts will be made to expand domestic demand as well as boost spending on cars, home appliances and cultural tourism.
E-commerce playing vital role in recovery
China’s growing e-commerce sector is playing an important role in shoring up the economy as an increasing number of shoppers opt for high-quality and diversified products via online marketplaces, according to sector experts.
Sales from online e-commerce platforms in the county surpassed 28 billion yuan ($3.9 billion) in 2021. And according to a report from market consultancy iResearch, China’s e-commerce based on livestreaming reached 4.9 trillion yuan in 2023, up 35.2% year-on-year.
Mo Daiqing, a senior analyst at the Internet Economy Institute, a domestic consultancy, emphasized the importance of the online retail segment in boosting consumption, expanding employment and improving people’s livelihoods, thus helping enhance resilience of the real economy.
And Wang Yun, a researcher at the Academy of Macroeconomic Research, affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, said online shopping symbolizes new retail, and has been playing a significant part in reducing transaction links and information asymmetry, enhancing transaction efficiency of commodities, improving the consumer shopping experience and fostering high-quality economic growth.
China’s retail sales, a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength, climbed 4.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Online retail sales jumped 12.4% year-on-year to 3.3 trillion yuan during the January-March period, with online retail sales of physical goods expanding 11.6% and accounting for 23.3% of the total retail sales.
To meet consumers’ growing demand for a wide range of products and nurture new consumption growth, e-commerce platforms have also accelerated steps to launch new and customized products by leveraging next-generation information technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence and big data, the NBS said.
