Investment key to stable growth

Based on this judgment, the monetary supply will likely be relatively ample and cost of financing will remain much lower. This would be good news for most of companies, especially those faced with funding issues.

Apart from easier credit, opportunities will also emerge while the government will definitely step up efforts to boost investment.

To understand this, it is needed to first understand why investment will become the most important focus of the government.

As mentioned above, maintaining economic growth has become a major task of this year, but looking at the three major economic engines, fixed-asset investment appears to be the most and only convenient tool for the government. Trade, the traditional economic engine, is muted amid weak global demand.

The other engine, domestic consumption, cannot be easily and quickly stimulated because of Chinese people's saving habits and high worries of further economic slowdown, despite the government's wish to make consumption the largest economic propeller. Hence investment remains the only choice.

Therefore, it is not surprising that investment in public products is highlighted in the Government Work Report.

This is clearly a confirmation that the seven packages of investment projects listed late last year by the National Development and Reform Commission will be the key areas of government support this year. These areas are information, power grid, oil and gas networks; clean energy; oil, gas and mineral resources supply; food and irrigation; transportation; ecology and environmental protection; and healthcare and elderly care.

Other than these public-product industries, another industry that is likely to receive government support is real estate. The Government Work Report delivered some key messages related to the property industry.

Curbing speculative activities is no longer included in this year's report, suggesting an overall policy relaxation for the industry. "Property market controls" are now a thing of the past. What replaces them is the expression of "stabilizing housing consumption". Clearly, the industry's role in bolstering economic growth, especially amid fears of steeper slowdown, has been recognized by top policymakers.