China, G20 eye closer financial cooperation

China is ready to strengthen financial cooperation with all parties of the Group of 20 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and provide stabilizing factors for the global economy, a government official said.

Liu Kun, China's finance minister, made the remarks while speaking at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting via video link. The meeting was held in Washington, both online and offline, from Wednesday to Thursday.

Liu said that faced with current evolving risks and challenges, all G20 members should work together to provide stabilizing factors for the world, according to a news release issued by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday morning.

He urged all G20 members to establish a sense of community, adopt responsible economic policies and explore innovative momentum to energize global growth. In addition, efforts should be made by G20 members to address the concerns of developing countries so that people's livelihoods won't be affected.

Liu said China will continue to work with all parties to improve the global health governance system and strengthen financial cooperation amid the pandemic under the framework of the World Health Organization in efforts to implement the important consensus reached by G20 leaders.

And as an effort to promote green and low-carbon development, China supports experience-sharing among financial policymakers in response to climate change at the G20 Finance Track, in line with its mandate and relevant principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that members of the G20 have always been the most significant drivers of global growth, and their economic recovery and expansion will critically underpin overall global growth.

Specifically, prospects of a global recovery also hinge on economic impacts experienced by G20 members. Therefore, it will be crucial for these countries to roll out responsible economic policies and perform well in policy coordination.

Figures from the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday showed that China's fiscal revenue logged a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent in the first quarter of this year, amounting to 6.2 trillion yuan ($969 billion).

Specifically, tax revenue came in at 5.25 trillion yuan, up 7.7 percent year-on-year.

Also from January to March, fiscal spending rose 8.3 percent year-on-year to 6.36 trillion yuan.

Li Xuhong, director of the Institute of Finance and Taxation Policy and Application at the Beijing National Accounting Institute, said that the country's fiscal revenue, particularly its tax revenue, registered steady growth in the first quarter in the face of multidimensional pressures challenging economic growth.

"This will help alleviate growth pressure for the whole year by having more room in fiscal spending and achieve steady growth as targeted," Li said.

China has been implementing a proactive and front-loaded fiscal policy since late last year in an effort to generate economic activity and energize growth. Zhou, the researcher, said that this is also meaningful for regional economic coordination, as the potential for the Chinese market remains huge and sustainable.

Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, also participated in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting on Wednesday night.

Yi said that facing current dynamics, G20 members should focus on economic and financial policy coordination and promote global recovery, according to a PBOC statement.

While painting a broad picture of the Chinese economy, Yi said that China is implementing a prudent monetary policy that is both flexible and appropriate, and policies are front-loaded to support growth of the real economy. He said the PBOC will use different monetary tools in a flexible manner, and aggregate and structural monetary policy tools will both be catalyzed to double down on support for the real economy.