Part of the South- to North Water Diversion Project runs through Nanyang, Henan province. XINHUA More steps to spur infrastructure, manufacturing, and investment are coming soon.
Pro-growth policies to speed up infrastructure construction, spur consumption and stabilize growth are expected to lend solidity to China's economy, and the country's GDP is likely to see positive growth in the second quarter, officials and experts said on Tuesday.
The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator, said China will roll out more policy tools in a timely manner to deal with economic challenges. The country has the confidence and capacity to ensure stable, healthy and sustainable economic development, it added.
At a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Ou Hong, NDRC deputy secretary-general, said that China would accelerate the construction of infrastructure projects in areas like water conservancy, transportation, underground utility tunnels, and large wind power and photovoltaic bases in the Gobi Desert and other arid regions.
Ou said the country's economic recovery grew in May, with major economic indicators witnessing improvements, fueled by a better containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, a gradual resumption of work and production and a series of pro-growth policies.
The economy of China has shown strong resilience and there is plenty of room for growth, Ou said. We are fully confident that we can deal with any unexpected changes to ensure the stable, healthy and sustainable development of the economy, and are fully confident in the ability to overcome difficulties and challenges in economic operations. The country will increase efforts to implement a package of measures, like boosting the sales of big-ticket items like automobiles and home appliances, in order to further unleash consumption potential, according to Ou.
Cheng Qiang, chief macroeconomic analyst at CITIC Securities, said the nation has attached great importance to strengthening infrastructure construction, which plays a crucial role in stabilizing economic growth. The revved-up steps to issue special-purpose bonds by local governments are expected to support the financing of infrastructure projects.
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With the epidemic situation gradually easing and a package of measures taking effect, the country's economy will improve this month, Chen said.
He said that recovery momentum is expected to be extended in the second half of this year, and the country is likely to see its GDP expand by around 6 percent in the third and fourth quarters.
More efforts should be made to expand investment in manufacturing and high-tech industries, boost the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries and improve the core competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, the NDRC said.
In recent years, there have been significant improvements in investment structure in China, and there are plenty of opportunities for investment opportunities in emerging technology segments, like new energy and power batteries, said Liu Chunsheng, associate professor at Central University of Finance and Economics.
The government has implemented a series of supportive measures, including speeding up the construction of infrastructure projects and encouraging the recovery of consumption, which are of great importance to expanding domestic demand and shoring up the economy, Liu said.
The country is enlarging the scope for foreign investment with a draft version of the catalog of industries in which such investment is encouraged, and guides foreign investment in key sectors, such as manufacturing and in certain places like central and western regions as well as the northeast, said the NDRC.