Meeting stresses need to promptly act to deliver on Govt Work Report pledges All key tasks laid out in the Government Work Report must be
effectively implemented to sustain steady economic and social
development, the State Council's executive meeting, chaired by Premier
Li Keqiang, urged on Monday. The meeting underlined the imperative need to keep abreast of shifts
in global economic trends and their implications for China. It called
for a sound grasp of the dynamics in domestic economic activity,
year-on-year and month-on-month, and deep analysis of new developments
and new problems. This will help in making informed anticipatory adjustments to the
policies introduced, and is key to bolstering employment and keeping
prices stable, as well as anchoring market expectations. "The first two months saw continued economic recovery and a
strengthening development momentum. That said, the recovery remains
uneven as the services sector, micro and small firms and some localities
still face difficulties in achieving recovery. We must act promptly to
fulfill the annual development targets and tasks set out in the
Government Work Report and keep major economic indicators within an
appropriate range," Li said. "An appropriate range is about employment growth, income growth,
environmental improvement and price stability, irrespective of the
speeds of development on these fronts being a bit faster or slower," Li
said. It was emphasized at the meeting that the tax and fee cuts for micro
and small enterprises, especially the new structural tax cuts, must be
thoroughly implemented. The policy on raising tax deductions on the
research and development expenses of manufacturing firms will be
enforced as soon as possible, and the settlement period shortened, so
that businesses stand to benefit within this year. The meeting urged keeping the macro leverage ratio generally stable
and lowering the government leverage ratio. Financial institutions will
be encouraged to promptly introduce specific measures to make financing
easier and more affordable for micro and small enterprises. Funding for central government budgetary investments, transfer
payments and local government special-purpose bonds will be delivered
and utilized in a timely fashion, and support to areas of weakness such
as compulsory education and basic medical care will be improved.
Policies will be introduced to support training and on-the-job higher
education for teachers in counties and townships. "The macro fiscal, monetary and employment policies must be promptly
implemented. The expanded, directly allocated fiscal funds must be
delivered to prefecture-and county-level governments as soon as possible
with a focus on supporting employment, people's essential needs and
market entities. Governments at all levels will continue to live on a
tight budget to ensure the smooth functioning of primary-level
governments," Li said.
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