China pledges reforms to offset economic slide

China economy has recently seen a downturn mostly due to a sluggish global economy, as well as fiscal problems at home

China plans to bounce back from its present economic slowdown by restructuring loss-making heavy industries and promoting new sectors like ICT and entrepreneurship, the country’s premier said on Wednesday.
“The priority is to support development in real economy,” Premier Li Keqiang told a crowded press conference at the end of a 10-day annual parliamentary session, held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
China’s export-oriented, manufacturing-driven economy, which is now the second largest in the world, has recently seen a downturn mostly due to a sluggish global economy, as well as fiscal problems at home, such as stock market glitches and a real estate bust, which has hit peripheral industries like steel and cement.
“But despite all that, we managed our growth target and created over 13 million new jobs (last year),” Li said. “We passed the stress test and gained experience,” he added.
In 2015, China’s GDP grew by 6.9 percent to reach 67.7 trillion yuan (US$10.38 trillion). Bejing has revised its annual growth target from 6.5-7 percent in its new-five year plan for 2016-2020.
On Wednesday, the premier said the government plans to downsize and use advanced technology to upgrade its loss-making heavy and petrochemical industries, starting with steel and coal, which are mostly state-owned.
“We are determined to push ahead with our development agenda,” Li said.
China will also promote small businesses and entrepreneurs by cutting interest rates and replacing business tax with VAT in all sectors, as well as ease the paperwork for business start-ups and innovation.
The country will promote ICT-based industry like cloud computing and big data over the next five years, the premier said.
“We need to move faster to transform China into a manufacturer of advanced and quality products.... Nearly 2.5 percent of GDP will be invested in science and technology research,” Li had said while presenting the 13th five-year plan at the opening of the fourth session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 5.
Domestic consumption will also be encouraged by cutting tariffs on some luxury items, like smart phones and fashionwear, in a nation which enjoys a high rate of personal disposable income and savings per capita.
Over the past 10 days, about 3,000 deputies from across China gathered in Beijing to deliberate on the proposed five-year plan for social and economic development.
The plan also stipulates reducing energy and water consumption, as well as emissions of major pollutants like carbon dioxide that often lead to serious smog in Chinese cities. It also pledges to move forward with Beijing’s ‘one belt, one road’ initiative and adopt more proactive import policy, including more import of advanced technology equipment and raw materials, while opening up the general manufacturing sector.

 

China pledges reforms to offset economic slide

China economy has recently seen a downturn mostly due to a sluggish global economy, as well as fiscal problems at home

China plans to bounce back from its present economic slowdown by restructuring loss-making heavy industries and promoting new sectors like ICT and entrepreneurship, the countrys premier said on Wednesday. The priority is to support development in real economy, Premier Li Keqiang told a crowded press conference at the end of a 10-day annual parliamentary session, held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chinas export-oriented, manufacturing-driven economy, which is now the second largest in the world, has recently seen a downturn mostly due to a sluggish global economy, as well as fiscal problems at home, such as stock market glitches and a real estate bust, which has hit peripheral industries like steel and cement. But despite all that, we managed our growth target and created over 13 million new jobs (last year), Li said. We passed the stress test and gained experience, he added. In 2015, Chinas GDP grew by 6.9 percent to reach 67.7 trillion yuan (US$10.38 trillion). Bejing has revised its annual growth target from 6.5-7 percent in its new-five year plan for 2016-2020. On Wednesday, the premier said the government plans to downsize and use advanced technology to upgrade its loss-making heavy and petrochemical industries, starting with steel and coal, which are mostly state-owned. We are determined to push ahead with our development agenda, Li said. China will also promote small businesses and entrepreneurs by cutting interest rates and replacing business tax with VAT in all sectors, as well as ease the paperwork for business start-ups and innovation. The country will promote ICT-based industry like cloud computing and big data over the next five years, the premier said. We need to move faster to transform China into a manufacturer of advanced and quality products.... Nearly 2.5 percent of GDP will be invested in science and technology research, Li had said while presenting the 13th five-year plan at the opening of the fourth session of the 12th National Peoples Congress (NPC) on March 5. Domestic consumption will also be encouraged by cutting tariffs on some luxury items, like smart phones and fashionwear, in a nation which enjoys a high rate of personal disposable income and savings per capita. Over the past 10 days, about 3,000 deputies from across China gathered in Beijing to deliberate on the proposed five-year plan for social and economic development. The plan also stipulates reducing energy and water consumption, as well as emissions of major pollutants like carbon dioxide that often lead to serious smog in Chinese cities. It also pledges to move forward with Beijings one belt, one road initiative and adopt more proactive import policy, including more import of advanced technology equipment and raw materials, while opening up the general manufacturing sector.