TMTPost -- China’s state media suggested Beijing will announced announced key details of the latest stimulus bazooka next month once the related measures are approved by the top lawmakers at a meeting next month.
During the sixth meeting of the China-U.S. Economic Working Group (EWG) held last Friday, Chinese officials briefed the timetable and where the package of incremental stimulus measures will focus on to address their U.S. counterparts’ concerns and misunderstandings, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media influencer affiliated with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) cited professionals.
The Chinese side specifically explained the progress of policy-making regarding the scale of incremental policies, and made it clear that it is a large-scale package and the specific arrangements are expected to be announced in November once it goes through the legal procedures, Yuyuan Tantian said.
One can not just keep an eye on the numbers to correctly understand the trend of China’s economy, Yuyuan Tantian stressed. China’s fiscal and monetary policies not only focus on scale and intensity, but also underscore the "quality" of policies, namely, the long-term impact and ability to optimize structures, the social media said.
The expected release date of the stimulus measures Yuyuan Tantian revealed suggested scale and other details will be made public during the meeting of China’s top legislative body. The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) will convene its 12th session from Nov. 4 to 8 in Beijing, according to a decision made by a meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee last Friday.
According to the proposed session agenda, lawmakers will hear a report on financial work, a report on the management of state-owned assets, a report on building world-class universities with Chinese characteristics, a report on the prevention and control of desertification, and more.
The sixth meeting of EWG between China and U.S. was co-chaired by Chinese Deputy Finance Minister Liao Min and Jay Shambaugh, under secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, on the sidelines of the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.
The two sides had "in-depth, pragmatic and constructive" communication on the macroeconomic situation and policies of the two countries, addressing global challenges including joint cooperation to help low-income countries cope with liquidity challenges and future arrangements, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of Finance (MOF).
The Chinese side introduced China's current macroeconomic situation and a package of targeted incremental fiscal policy measures launched recently and expressed its concerns about the U.S. imposing additional tariffs on China and Russia-related sanctions, according to the statement.
The U.S. and Chinese officials discussed recent macroeconomic policy developments in both countries, including China’s recently announced stimulus measures, and areas of cooperation including how to support low-income countries facing liquidity challenges, a press of the U.S. Treasury echoed. The department said the U.S. side continued to raise concerns related to China’s industrial overcapacity and its impact on U.S. workers and firms.
Following the latest EWG meeting, the 12th session of China’s Standing Committee of the 14th NPC, which has been deemed as a key window to unveil more stimulus, bored more expectoration. Earlier this month, two press briefings chaired by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the MOF disappointed investors.
The NDRC, China’s top economic planner, pledged a raft of economic stimulus at press conference, though it still fell short of investors’ anticipation of a much larger package of stimulus measures. The Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an told reporters his ministry will increase the debt ceiling on a relatively large scale in a lump sum to replace existing hidden debts of local governments and help defuse their debt risks, apply a set of fiscal policy tools including local government special-purpose bonds, special funds and taxation policies to help stabilize the sector. Calling it "the strongest debt alleviation measure introduced in recent years," Lan left out of key details on scale of the new package of targeted incremental fiscal policy measures.