NDRC pledges to boost growth
By Richard Fu |
December 17, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA will support private investment in the now highly-regulated sectors, such as energy and railways, as part of its efforts to bolster growth, the nation's top planning agency said yesterday.
The country will accelerate drafting rules and measures next year to free up sectors, such as railways, urban construction, financial, energy and utilities, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement after a work conference in Beijing yesterday.
The announcement came at a time when some industries, notably railway construction, have encountered funding problems as a massive fiscal stimulus plan in 2008 by the Chinese government designed to counter the global financial crisis left certain sectors heavily indebted. That pump-priming package mainly focused on infrastructure and social projects.
China's Ministry of Railways, which acts like a corporation in the bond market with more than 2 trillion yuan (US$313.8 billion) worth of debt, has halted construction of some rail tracks amid tight liquidity and other related issues, especially a fatal train crash in July in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, which rattled investor confidence and limited the ministry's ability to borrow money or sell debts.
The ministry, which completed 396.3 billion yuan worth of investment in the first 11 months of this year, is set to miss its annual investment target of 600 billion yuan.
Economists said that after the 2008 stimulus package was unveiled, China should encourage more investment from the private sector to help sustain economic growth because non-government sectors hold the majority of China's capital.
Yesterday's NDRC statement also said stabilizing consumer prices will be an "important task" next year. A year ago, the government listed inflation as a "top priority" for 2011.
The nation's inflation hit a 14-month low last month at 4.2 percent so economic growth is now a greater concern for the government than prices. Standard Chartered has forecast China's consumer price gain to average 2 percent next year.
Easing inflationary pressure would make it easy for the government to implement pricing reforms in the energy sector. The NDRC repeated it will choose an "appropriate" time to launch a new pricing system for refined oil products and natural gas.
The country will accelerate drafting rules and measures next year to free up sectors, such as railways, urban construction, financial, energy and utilities, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement after a work conference in Beijing yesterday.
The announcement came at a time when some industries, notably railway construction, have encountered funding problems as a massive fiscal stimulus plan in 2008 by the Chinese government designed to counter the global financial crisis left certain sectors heavily indebted. That pump-priming package mainly focused on infrastructure and social projects.
China's Ministry of Railways, which acts like a corporation in the bond market with more than 2 trillion yuan (US$313.8 billion) worth of debt, has halted construction of some rail tracks amid tight liquidity and other related issues, especially a fatal train crash in July in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, which rattled investor confidence and limited the ministry's ability to borrow money or sell debts.
The ministry, which completed 396.3 billion yuan worth of investment in the first 11 months of this year, is set to miss its annual investment target of 600 billion yuan.
Economists said that after the 2008 stimulus package was unveiled, China should encourage more investment from the private sector to help sustain economic growth because non-government sectors hold the majority of China's capital.
Yesterday's NDRC statement also said stabilizing consumer prices will be an "important task" next year. A year ago, the government listed inflation as a "top priority" for 2011.
The nation's inflation hit a 14-month low last month at 4.2 percent so economic growth is now a greater concern for the government than prices. Standard Chartered has forecast China's consumer price gain to average 2 percent next year.
Easing inflationary pressure would make it easy for the government to implement pricing reforms in the energy sector. The NDRC repeated it will choose an "appropriate" time to launch a new pricing system for refined oil products and natural gas.
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