BEIJING: Chinese policymakers will likely adopt a more pro-growth stance and strengthen “extraordinary countercyclical measures” to spur the economy amid pressing challenges from sluggish domestic demand and external uncertainties, economists said. They anticipate a new round of stimulus packages focusing on driving domestic demand and boosting consumption to address domestic structural issues, offset the rising headwinds from a grimmer global environment and foster sustainable, high-quality growth in the long run.
The economists also said they believe that measures in the pipeline may include more public borrowing and spending, with a growing shift of policy emphasis to consumption, enhanced financial support for low-income households, and increased spending on the property sector through the buying back of land or by helping developers finish presold homes. Their comments came as the market is closely watching how China will draw up growth targets and policies to revive the world’s second-largest economy when China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies meet for the annual two sessions in early March. Noting that the broader economy is still facing pressures from a harsher external environment and still-weak domestic demand, Sun Xuegong, director of the department of policy study and consultation at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said that policymakers will likely introduce a package of stimulus measures aimed at boosting market confidence and stabilizing expectations. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
