Charting Course to Navigate Economic Headwinds

Reform， opening up and consumption will be Chinas major tools to help keep the economy growing steadily during the second half of the year and beyond， with the countrys policymakers unveiling a general roadmap to help navigate through economic headwinds.

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting on July 30， reviewing the economic situation and setting the tone for future work.

The meeting came as the worlds largest developing economy faces downward pressure. Offi cial data showed on July 31 that the countrys manufacturing activities continued to stay in the contraction zone in July.

“As the Chinese economy faces new risks and increasing downward pressure， the country should focus on long-term trends and key issues so as to turn crises into opportunities，” a statement released after the meeting said.

According to the meeting， China will continue to implement proactive fi scal policy and prudent monetary policy. It said policies on cutting taxes and fees should be further implemented.

“Reduction in taxes and fees is a key tool of positive fi nancial policy and the key to implementing it is to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies carefully and offer sufficient supportive work，” said Yang Zhiyong， a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Chinas central bank has raised its relending quota by 50 billion yuan （$7.3 billion） to boost fi nancial support for small and micro fi rms and private businesses.

The fi nancial research center of Bank of Communications noted that the financing structure is expected to be optimized as the meeting called for the science and technology innovation board to properly implement its registration-based initial public offering system with information disclosure at its core and improve the quality of listed fi rms.

While the country will take targeted measures to support the development of private enterprises， the meeting also called for accelerating the clearing of “zombie companies.”

The statement also noted that China will adhere to the principle of “housing is for living， not for speculation，” reflecting the determination to ensure the stable development of the real estate market in the long term.