Li: 'Redouble' efforts to stabilize economy
China will speed up the implementation of a package of policy measures to maintain stable economic performance and ensure that market entities and the people are well-informed of these policy steps and benefit to the fullest extent, according to a decision made at the State Council's executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.
"Since the announcement of the policy package, government departments have all taken proactive steps," Li said. "We must redouble our efforts, in particular to accelerate policy implementation."
The meeting stressed the need to fully examine the policy package and further flesh out each and every measure to ensure that all who are eligible are fully informed and fully benefit.
The newly added amount of 140 billion yuan ($20.99 billion) in value-added tax credit refunds should be basically delivered by July. Policy banks will increase the credit line by another 800 billion yuan to provide financial support for infrastructure construction, and a mechanism will be set up to meet the needs of key projects.
All eligible migrant workers who have lost their jobs, whether they are covered by the unemployment insurance policies or not, will receive provisional living allowances or other forms of relief. Primary responsibility for paying such allowances should be made clear.
With regard to the deferral of principal and interest repayments on the 90 billion yuan in commercial truck loans extended by centrally managed auto companies, the enterprises concerned will be encouraged to inform borrowers of the deferral procedures through online announcements, text messages and other means.
"Supporting measures and detailed guidelines for the policies are of critical importance. Detailed implementation plans should be swiftly introduced and easy to act on, and all those eligible should be fully informed of the policies and benefit from them," Li said.
The meeting called for deepening reform of government functions. Vigorous steps will be made to see that no deliberate application is required for those eligible to benefit from the policies and that more services will be accessible online.
To smooth logistics in both trunk and branch routes and facilitate the early resumption of production at full capacity, bottlenecks must be pinpointed, relevant measures should be improved, and targeted assistance to key enterprises will be intensified.
On investment projects, all related localities and departments should keep work logs, improve approval procedures and provide greater support in terms of land use and other aspects, to enable the launch of projects as quickly as possible.
Free and smooth passage of summer harvest agricultural machinery should be ensured. Measures will be implemented to support the listing of platform companies in domestic and overseas markets in accordance with laws and regulations, and ease the restrictions on car purchases.
"We must foster an enabling business environment for economic development through the reform of government functions, solve difficult issues and unleash the vitality and creativity of market players with reform-based and market-orientated measures," Li said.
The meeting urged tighter supervision of policy implementation. The task forces sent to 12 provincial-level regions by the State Council are required to formulate reports based on on-site inspection as soon as possible, and prominent problems found in policy implementation will be publicized.
Major economic indicators of the second quarter, including local GDP, the surveyed urban unemployment rate, fiscal revenue after deducting tax refunds, and consumer prices will be released in a fact-based manner by the statistics authorities, together with the authorities in finance, human resources and social security, and taxes on a province-specific basis.
