China calls for “hard efforts” to revive economy

The state planner’s comments come after the release of worse-than-expected economic data for November.

China’s economy is expected to recover, but “strength efforts” are needed to sustain growth recovery due to the adverse external environment and the loss of momentum in the world economy, the country’s top state planner said.

Friday’s comments came after the release of worse-than-expected economic activity data for November.

While the world’s second-largest economy is expected to benefit from the easing of China’s strict “zero-COVID” regime announced last week, the abrupt relaxation of the rules carries the risk of larger outbreaks of the virus, which could affect businesses and consumers.

Beyond COVID, policymakers also have to navigate the economy through other headwinds, notably protracted weakness in the real estate sector and weakening foreign demand.

“With the implementation of optimized COVID-19 prevention and control measures, while policies to stabilize the economy gradually take effect, China’s economic growth is expected to continue to pick up,” said a spokesperson for the National Development and Development Commission. Reform ( NDRC).

“At the same time, we are mindful that the economy is facing a more complex and severe external environment, and weakened growth momentum for the global economy,” the spokesperson said.

“We need to make strenuous efforts to promote a sustained economic recovery,” they added.

China will work to stabilize growth, employment and prices while accelerating the construction of infrastructure projects and expanding effective investment, according to the statement.

As investment in the real estate sector plummeted significantly, the NDRC said the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors underpinned growth in fixed asset investment and their capital formation accounted for 26.7 percent of China’s economic growth in the first three quarters.

As of November, the NDRC said it had approved 106 major projects worth about 1.5 trillion yuan (215.18 billion U.S. dollars) in total.

As the Lunar New Year festive season approaches, the state planner has promised to release state pork reserves in a timely manner to keep prices stable.

To stimulate a COVID-hit economy, China has laid out plans to expand domestic consumption and investment, state media reported on Wednesday.

The country will also support the eastern province of Zhejiang to build a pilot area for the common prosperity campaign and expand the scale of middle-income groups, the statement said.