China announces 19 new policies in a bid to bolster economic growth

China announced 19 new policies Wednesday aimed at beefing up efforts to rescue economic growth, which is weakening again with a resurgence in Covid cases, a deepening property crisis and now power shortages spurred by a severe drought.
 

The measures -- unveiled by the State Council, the country’s Cabinet -- include more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) in new funding to boost investment and consumption, as well as more flexibility for local authorities to support the real estate market. They also contain policies intended to clear logistical hurdles and help businesses move personnel across borders more easily.

The package comes on top of 33 policies the government introduced just three months ago involving trillions of yuan worth of relief for the world’s second-largest economy, which at that time fell into a slump partly because of curbs to contain China’s worst Covid outbreak in two years. 

Here are the specific details that have been announced so far about the 19 measures, as reported by the official Xinhua News Agency:

Fiscal Stimulus

1. The government will provide more than 300 billion yuan in additional funding for a program that gave state policy banks the tools to finance infrastructure projects, doubling the scale of a plan announced at the end of June.
2. Local governments are urged to use up more than 500 billion yuan in existing special bond ceiling limits by the end of October.
3. A batch of infrastructure projects will be approved to start construction. The projects must make a profit, their quality must be ensured and the funds should be prevented from being used for other purposes.

Energy Supply

1. Central government-run power generation companies will be supported to sell 200 billion yuan in special debt to ensure energy supply.

Property Support

1. Local governments will be permitted to use city-specific credit policies in a flexible way and reasonably support the demand for first homes and better housing.

Business Aid

1. Measures to help private company development and investment will be introduced, and the healthy and sustainable growth of the platform economy will be promoted.
2. The government will make it more convenient for business people to travel in and out of the country.
3. Companies will be allowed to delay the payment of their administrative fees by one quarter.
4. Local governments will be encouraged to set up risk compensation funds for loans to micro, small and medium-sized companies and individual business owners.
5. Officials will continue to take measures to ensure smooth logistics.

Agricultural Funding

1. Some 10 billion yuan in agricultural material subsidies will be granted in addition to the 30 billion yuan already given this year.
2. Supervision of Implementation
3. Government agencies are urged to “quickly” release specific details for the implementation of the policies, and local authorities should introduce supporting measures.
4. The State Council will send supervision and working groups to regions; teams led by heads of central government agencies will be dispatched to economically strong provinces to improve the efficiency of project approvals and accelerate the implementation of the measures.
5. The work of local officials to stabilize the economy will be supervised by the State Council inspectors, who will also provide necessary aid for the execution of the task.