No stimulus as priority on job creation
Print Edition
CHINA is unlikely to unveil aggressive stimulus measures to counter a short-term decline in economic growth and will focus on creating jobs instead, Premier Li Keqiang said at the annual Boao Forum in Hainan Province yesterday.
His remark dashed hopes of strong government support for the economy which has shown signs of weakness since the beginning of this year.
“We will not take short-term and forceful stimulus measures in response to momentary fluctuations in the economic growth,” Li said. “We will instead focus more on medium to long-term healthy development.”
The premier stressed that job creation was the government’s main policy priority, and that it did not matter if the growth was below the official target of 7.5 percent for this year.
China’s economy has exhibited signs of softness since the start of the year as indicators, including industrial production, fixed-asset investment and retail sales, all pointed to moderation.
The industrial production growth eased to 8.6 percent in the first two months, a five-year low which was down from 9.7 percent in December. Fixed-asset investment rose 17.9 percent during the period, the slowest since 2002, while expansion in retail sales softened to 11.8 percent, the weakest since 2005.
The latest data also showed that China’s trade slumped 9 percent in March as both exports and imports performed worse than expected.
But still authorities have resisted launching broad measures. Earlier this month the government announced tax cuts for small firms and to quicken the construction of railway lines but investors were unimpressed as they had hoped for stronger support such as relaxation of fiscal or monetary policies.
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