More policy support to assist in meeting GDP target

The skyline of Beijing. [Photo/VCG]

China is set to introduce a new wave of incremental policies aimed at expanding effective investment and stabilizing expectations as the country strives to achieve its preset annual growth target of around 5 percent this year, said the country's top economic regulator.

An official with the National Development and Reform Commission told China Daily on Tuesday that the commission will continue to closely monitor economic trends and measure the effectiveness of the implementation of existing policies, saying the country will introduce new incremental policies when necessary to sustain the continued economic recovery trend.

The NDRC is currently working with relevant departments to study the revision of the catalog of encouraged industries for foreign investment, and the updated version will feature additional categories to further incentivize foreign investment, the official said.

To further optimize the business environment and boost market confidence, the commission will issue a guideline for the building of a united national market as soon as possible and accelerate the revision of the negative list for market access to pave the way for greater business participation.

The NDRC recently announced it will partially frontload investment plans for next year's central government budget of 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) and another 100 billion yuan for key investment projects by the end of this year.

The NDRC official emphasized the need for sustained policy support through the remainder of the year and into 2025, saying the country will accelerate the implementation of investment projects over the next three months, which can translate into physical work volume and provide strong support for fourth-quarter economic growth.

The official said the country will accelerate the implementation of 102 key projects listed in the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), and 96.5 percent of the 5,100 specific projects under those key projects have either started construction or have been completed.

Looking into 2025, the country will continue to issue ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support the construction of projects for major national strategies and building up security capacity in key areas.

A new report released on Tuesday by the Institute of Finance and Banking, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the country's recently announced stimulus policy package has greatly buoyed market confidence, as key indicators in real estate demand, consumer spending and capital market activity have shown marked improvement.

Cao Jing, an associate researcher at the institute, said the country needs to further step up macroeconomic policy support in key fields, including issuing additional special treasury bonds to increase fiscal spending on social welfare sectors such as pensions, childcare, education, healthcare and affordable housing.

Cao suggested that the government should align monetary policy with inflation targets, maintain a strong course of interest rate cuts and improve transparency in policy operations.