Kovid in China: China has reported hundreds of infections in recent weeks.
Beijing:
China, which once boasted a strong defense against the COVID-19 epidemic, has now hit hard on the return of the virus.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, consumer spending and factory output fell last month, while infrastructure investment that Beijing has used to boost growth this year has also slowed.
According to the Policy Research Group (POREG), the headline unemployment rate has risen to a two-year high of 6.1 percent, further evidence of the economic downturn created by the country’s toughest epidemic protocol.
The think tank noted that since the first outbreak of the epidemic a few years ago, China’s stimulus has largely been zero towards supply.
As China faces the huge economic impact of the virus, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang has called for accelerated speed and ramp-up efforts to implement macro policy.
Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the remarks while chairing a symposium on growth stabilization held in Yunnan province last week.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, he highlighted efforts to stabilize market entity growth and increase employment and basic human livelihoods, which are based on stable growth.
Noting that the new wave of domestic COVID-19 revolutions and changes in the international situation have put further downward pressure on the economy, Li stressed the importance of trust, citing China’s more than 150 million market share, strong resilience and generally stable prices.
“We have always insisted on avoiding the ‘flood-like’ stimulus. We did not issue extra paper money, even when the Covid-19 hit us the hardest in 2020,” Lee said, adding that there was still room for policy. Facing new challenges.
He emphasized the importance of combining COVID-19 control with economic and social development in a more efficient way and enhancing macro regulation.
Most of the policies introduced by the Central Economic Work Conference and government work report were implemented in the first half of 2022, and Lee called on local governments in May to take further steps to get the economy back on track quickly.
The country must ensure the full implementation of its relief measures, which include tax cuts and refunds, so that initiatives can quickly and thoroughly enjoy policy support, Lee said.
Regarding the stabilization of the economy, the Chinese prime minister said that the country must ensure adequate grain production and energy supply and maintain price stability and all the factors for economic development.
Obstacles to logistics and upstream-downstream connectivity must be cleared to smooth industry and supply chains, Lee said.
