Skip to main content

China’s Premier Li Keqiang calls for more targeted economic policy

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. (Source: REUTERS)
China’s Premier Li Keqiang has called for more targeted economic policies and measures to cope with structural changes in the world’s second-largest economy. His comments come after China reported growth of 6.9 percent in 2017, compared with its target of about 6.5 percent. The economy beat the government’s expectations, reflecting quantitative expansion as well as an improvement in the quality of growth, Li told economic experts and entrepreneurs in a closed-door meeting on Monday.
A statement on the meeting, published by the central government on its website late on Tuesday, did not include any specifics on how policy might be changed. In recent years, China has been cutting excess capacity in heavy industries as part of its so-called supply-side reforms while pushing for new growth drivers, such as technology, and moving up the value chain. But policymakers walk a fine line as they shutter polluting and idle factories without causing massive unemployment and stunting local economies.
Authorities’ efforts to contain financial risks and slow a build-up in corporate debt have added a layer of complexity in China’s economic transformation. The central bank has so far refrained from raising benchmark policy interest rates to rein in risks, choosing instead to nudge up money market rates incrementally.
Any broad monetary policy tightening could risk destabilising economic growth, economists say. “We should increasingly rely on reform, opening up and innovation to propel transformation and foster new economic drivers,” Li said at the meeting on Monday. The meeting was held to gather opinions on the annual government work report scheduled to be published in March.
FAW Group Chairman Xu Liuping said at the meeting that China should expedite mixed-ownership reform in state-owned enterprises. Zhang Shiping, chairman of Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group , said stable policies can stimulate private investment, while Morgan Stanley economist Robin Xing said China should tap the potential of small cities to drive consumption.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Over 1 lakh illegal immigrants arrested in US in 2017

On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigration enforcement and removal priorities. (Representational Image) The US authorities have arrested 143,470 illegal immigrants this year, according to a latest report. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 per cent Year-on-Year, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes. Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after January 20, which is a 42 per cent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report. US President Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20 this year. On January 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration’s immigrat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Canada debates new harassment legislation amid #MeToo storm

We can afford to do more for people who need it by doing less for people who don’t: Trudeau’s message (Photo Source: Reuters) Canada’s parliament began debate on Monday on new legislation to tighten workplace harassment rules, including those governing politicians, as allegations of sexual misconduct mounted against lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum. The bill, introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in November, gained a new prominence after a federal cabinet minister and two provincial party leaders stepped down last week after being accused of inappropriate behavior. While the proposed law will govern all federal workplaces, including private businesses, the environment among political staffers in Ottawa was in focus as the #MeToo social media movement gained momentum in Canada. “It clearly is a crisis in this workplace,” Employment Minister Patty Hajdu told reporters outside the House of Commons. “We talk a lot about getting wom...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trump administration drops Obama-era easing of marijuana prosecutions

The US Justice Department on Thursday rescinded an Obama administration policy that had eased enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states that legalized the drug, instead giving federal prosecutors wide latitude to pursue criminal charges. The action by Attorney General Jeff Sessions could have damaging consequences for the burgeoning marijuana industry in the six states including California and Colorado that have legalized the drug for recreational use, plus dozens of others that permit medicinal use. Justice Department officials declined to say whether they might take legal action against those states, saying further steps were “still under consideration.” Federal law still prohibits marijuana even as some states move to legalize it. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump’s top priority was enforcing federal law “whether it’s marijuana or immigration.” The policy change, detailed by Sessions in a one-page memo to federal prosecutors nationwid...
Post a Comment
Read more