China to expedite delivery of policy package to keep economy stable

BEIJING -- China will speed up the implementation of a package of policy measures to maintain stable economic performance and ensure that market entities and the people are well-informed of these policy steps and benefit to the fullest extent, according to a decision made at the State Council's Executive Meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

The meeting noted that the policy package, introduced in line with the overall thinking and policy orientation decided at the Central Economic Work Conference and outlined in the Government Work Report, is mainly aimed at increasing the speed and effectiveness of policy implementation.

They are crucial and timely measures for overall economic stability with a properly-heightened intensity, as well as fine-tuned execution of macro policies targeting the needs of market entities, in an effort to raise efficiency without compromising long-term interests.

Thanks to swift actions across government departments, good progress has been made in rolling out detailed implementation plans for the 33 policies in six aspects.

"Since the announcement of the policy package, government departments have all taken proactive steps," Li said. "We must redouble our efforts, in particular to accelerate policy implementation."

The meeting stressed the need to fully examine the policy package and further flesh out each and every measure to make sure all those eligible should be fully informed and benefit to the fullest extent.

The newly-added amount of 140-billion-yuan value added tax credit refunds should be basically delivered by July. Policy banks will increase the credit line by another 800 billion yuan to provide financial support for infrastructure building, and a mechanism will be set up to meet the needs of key projects.

All eligible migrant workers who have lost their jobs, whether covered by the unemployment insurance scheme or not, will receive provisional living allowances or other forms of relief. Primary responsibility for paying such allowances should be made clear.

With regard to the deferral of principal and interest repayments on the 90-billion-yuan commercial truck loans extended by centrally-managed auto companies, the enterprises concerned will be encouraged to inform loan-takers of the deferral procedures through online announcements, text messages and other means.

Other policies also need to be fleshed out to see that they are operable and can be delivered on the ground. Policy implementation will be closely tracked, and improvements made whenever needed.

"Supporting measures and detailed guidelines for the policies are of critical importance. Detailed implementation plans should be swiftly introduced and easy to act on, and all those eligible should be fully informed of the policies and benefit from them, so that market entities and the people can enjoy the policy dividends in a timely way," Li said.

The meeting called for deepening reform of government functions. Vigorous steps will be made to see that no deliberate application is required for those eligible to benefit from the policies and that more services will be accessible online.

To smooth logistics in both trunk and branch routes and facilitate early resumption of full-capacity production, the bottlenecks must be pinpointed, relevant measures should be improved, and targeted assistance to key enterprises will be intensified.

On investment projects, all localities and departments concerned should keep work logs, improve approval procedures and provide greater support in land use and other aspects, to enable the launch of projects as quickly as possible.

Free and smooth passage of summer harvest agricultural machinery should be ensured. Measures will be implemented to support the listing of platform companies on domestic and overseas markets in accordance with laws and regulations, and ease the restrictions on car purchases.

"We must foster an enabling business environment for economic development through the reform of government functions, and solve difficult issues and unleash the vitality and creativity of market players with reform-based and market-orientated measures," Li said.

The meeting urged tighter supervision on policy implementation. The task forces dispatched to 12 provinces by the State Council are required to formulate reports based on on-site inspection as soon as possible, and prominent problems found in the policy implementation will be made public.

Major indicators of the second quarter, including local GDP, surveyed urban unemployment rate, fiscal revenue after deducting tax refunds, and consumer prices will be released in a fact-based manner by the statistics authorities together with the finance, human resources and social security, and tax authorities on a province-specific basis, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.