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China will try hard to achieve the best possible results for the economy this year, said the Politburo chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the top decision-making body of the China Communist Party.
In the second half of the year, China should “stabilise employment and prices, maintain economic operations within a reasonable range, and strive to achieve the best possible results,” said the Politburo at a meeting on Thursday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Large provinces must take lead in growing China’s economy, and well-positioned provinces should try to achieve their social and economic targets, it said
The Chinese economy grew by merely 0.4% in the second quarter from a year earlier, narrowly avoiding contraction due to COVID-19 lockdowns. First-half GDP grew by only 2.5% from a year ago, amid worries of a global recession, uncertainties from the Ukraine war and worries of recurring COVID lockdowns.
Notably, the latest Politburo statement omitted previous calls that the country will strive to achieve its 2022 growth target.
The Politburo said in April that China would “work hard to achieve the annual economic and social development targets.” President Xi said at the opening of a BRICS forum on June 22 that China would take more measures to achieve its annual economic goals while minimising the impact of its COVID-19 control measures as much as possible.
But during an inspection tour in the city of Wuhan on June 28, Xi said China will “strive to reach a relatively good level of the economic development this year”.
On Thursday, the Politburo also said that China will stick to the dynamic zero” Covid-19 policy and take immediate actions when epidemic appears, while in the meantime, it will ensure the society’s key functions are in normal operation.
The country should implement macro economic policy to actively expand demand and adopt fiscal and monetary policy to effectively make up for insufficient social demand, it said.
Monetary policy should be implemented to maintain reasonable ample liquidity and step up credit support to the corporate sector and the country will better use policy banks’ loans and the investment fund for infrastructure construction, it added.
Regarding fiscal policies, local governments are encouraged to fully use the 3.45 trillion yuan of special-purpose bond quota this year and better use the funding from the bonds, it said.
The State Council has told local governments to use up this year’s special-purpose bond quota by the end the June and use all of the funding by the end of August. According to latest data from the Ministry of Finance, local governments issued 3.4 trillion yuan of special-purpose bonds in the first six months.
The Politburo also vowed to increase stability and international competitiveness of industry chain and supply chain, ensure smooth transportation, optimize domestic industrial layout and support its central and western regions to improve infrastructure and business environment.
Regarding the struggling real estate sector, the Politburo said that China will stablize the real estate market, stick to the policy stance that “housing is for living, not for speculating”, take a city-based approach, fully use policy tools to support the so-called “rigid housing demand and upgrading housing demand”.
Local governments must ensure the delivery of property projects, should properly resolve risks of some rural banks, and crack down on financial crimes, it said.
The Politburo also said that China will promote healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy, complete rectification of the platform economy and maintain regular supervisions on the platform economy, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.