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November 28, 2009

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Home » Business » Economy

China to stick with pro-growth stance

China will keep its expansionary policy stance "fundamentally unchanged" next year, according to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China yesterday.

The meeting, presided by Party General Secretary Hu Jintao, said more efforts should be made to improve the quality of China's economic growth.

"China will carry out the stimulus package as the government has promised and will make economic growth stable, coordinated and sustainable," said a statement released after the meeting in Beijing.

It acknowledged achievements China made this year and stressed again the importance of expansion of domestic demand -- consumption demand, in particular.

The meeting urged the government to optimize policies to stimulate consumption and said investment should grow in a more "rational" pattern.

More government capital should be channeled to agriculture, technology, education, hygiene, culture, social safety net and energy conservation, to accelerate the reform of China's economic structure, the statement said.

Technological innovation is on the agenda and is part of the plan to reduce carbon emissions to deal with climate change.

China's economy grew 8.9 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter, accelerating from the advances of 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first three months.

But there were mounting concerns on the quality of China's investment-fueled growth. The government has begun to tackle problems including excess production capacity, surging credit and lack of fund for small and medium-sized companies.

The stabilization of China's economy has triggered wide guesswork whether the government will retreat from its relatively easy monetary policy, despite frequent denial from top Chinese officials of withdrawal of stimulus package.

Li Maoyu, an analyst at the Changjiang Securities Co, said uncertainties were rising.

"The stock markets are sluggish these days, reflecting people's wavering confidence in a strong comeback of the economy," Li said.

"The government has to consider seriously how to manage expectation for inflation and the best timing of exit of China's expansionary policy."

The annual central economic work conference, scheduled to take place next month, has attracted huge attention and led to fluctuations in equity markets because it is expected to address key economic issues including when and how to adjust the nation's policy stance.

According to a survey released yesterday, Chinese businesses remain in expansion mode but have eased their growth amid uncertainties for prices and the economy as a whole.

The overall business conditions index slipped to 61.11 this month from 64.56 in October, according to China Business Sentiment Survey released by the Market News International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Boerse Group.

An index figure above 50 means business activity is growing or improving.

Most of the survey's major indices were down slightly or flat from the previous month, with input prices and credit availability reversing the trend.

"In both cases, the results moved in a direction that may give policy makers something to worry about," the survey said.




 

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