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File image of people wearing face masks walking past the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China.
BEIJING, Jan 5 (Archyde.com) – China will ensure stable economic growth in the first quarter of 2022, Prime Minister Li Keqiang said on Wednesday, according to state radio.
The government will implement further tax and fee cuts and provide targeted support to sectors affected by COVID, such as services, Li was quoted as saying.
China will expand existing tax breaks and increase deductions for research and development (R&D) expenses when companies calculate their income tax, Li added.
Amid further downward pressure on its economy, China seeks to stabilize key sectors such as employment, finance, trade and investment, he added.
The world’s second-largest economy faces multiple challenges heading into 2022 due to a housing recession and tight restrictions from COVID-19 that have affected consumer spending.
Zhang Ming, a senior economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading government think tank, said in a report that China’s economy could grow between 5.3% and 5.5% in 2022.
The government will adopt “more expansionary” policies this year to prevent growth from slowing further from the fourth quarter of last year, Zhang said.
Some analysts estimate that growth in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter could have fallen below 4% from the 4.9% pace of the previous quarter, although growth in 2021 could still be around 8%, above the target official of more than 6%.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao and writing by Beijing; edited in Spanish by Carlos Serrano)