Urgent China... Premier Li Qiang Urges "More Effort for Economic Recovery"

Return from Beidaihe Vacation Gathering
"Boosting Consumption is Key" Calls for Tailored Measures

Despite the government's successive economic stimulus measures, Premier Li Chang expressed impatience over the still sluggish recovery of the Chinese economy. This was during the first official meeting after returning from Beidaihe, a vacation gathering of the top party and government leadership.

According to China's Xinhua News Agency on the 18th, Premier Li presided over the 5th plenary session of the State Council on the 16th and emphasized, "More efforts must be made to consolidate the economic recovery," adding, "Stronger measures are needed to stimulate domestic demand." He stressed that "promoting consumption is key" and insisted, "Tailored measures should be introduced according to targets to facilitate smooth economic circulation."

[Image source= Xinhua News Agency]

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) explained that the holding of this first plenary session since the Two Sessions (Lianghui - the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) in March signifies that all economic managers have returned from the annual Beidaihe vacation. The meeting was attended not only by Premier Li but also by Vice Premiers Ding Xuesong, He Lifeng, Zhang Guoqing, Liu Guozhong, and Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Premier Li explained, "Policies must be adjusted to fully utilize potential consumption, and China should explore new areas such as 'green trade' and cross-border e-commerce to promote foreign trade growth." He further mentioned that authorities should expand the use of special local government bonds to finance projects encouraging private investment and create a better environment by eliminating cumbersome procedures that hinder private enterprises from participating in government-led infrastructure projects.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, private investment in China from January to July remained unchanged compared to the previous year, and investment in the real estate sector, led by private enterprises, decreased by 10.2% year-on-year during the same period. In the first half of the year, China's foreign direct investment inflows also fell by 29.1% in yuan terms.

He also said, "We must listen to the appeals of enterprises and take measures to resolve difficulties," and according to SCMP, he pledged to stop the abuse of audits and fines on enterprises at the local level and to promote innovation and development of market entities.

Meanwhile, according to the National Bureau of Statistics' announcement on the 15th, China's industrial production growth rate in July was 5.1% year-on-year, falling short of the previous month's 5.3% and the forecast of 5.2%. Retail sales increased by 2.7% during the same period, exceeding the forecast of 2.6%, but the unemployment rate worsened to 5.2% from 5.0% the previous month. Housing prices in July fell by 4.9% year-on-year, deepening the decline from the previous month’s -4.5%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.