[The Epoch Times, August 29, 2022](Reported by Epoch Times reporters Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya) Chinese PremierLi KeqiangAfter adding more money recently to throw out the economic rescue policy, theState Department“Multiple” led by the Ministerstabilize the economysuperviseand service working group” is in place. What is the special intention behind the authorities sending this special team led by ministerial-level officials to the local area to supervise the formation?
“Beijing Youth Daily” public account “Political Knowledge Bureau” issued an article on the 27th saying that the CCPState Department“Department of Statestabilize the economysuperviseand service working group” will go to 10 provinces to supervise, of which 5 provinces of Fujian, Hunan, Shandong, Hubei and Henan have been stationed in place.
The executive meeting of the State Council of the Communist Party of China held on August 24 once stated that in addition to the implementation of 19 consecutive policies to “stabilize the economy”, a working group to stabilize the economic market should be dispatched. The major economic provinces will work together to improve the efficiency of examination and approval, “compact local responsibilities”, and speed up the implementation of policies.
Experts analyze the intention of the ministerial-level team to supervise the locality
According to the “Political Intelligence Bureau” report, among the five working groups that have been put in place, the one dispatched to Fujian Province is led by Ni Hong, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; the one dispatched to Hunan Province is led by Li Guoying, Minister of Water Resources; Minister Huang Runqiu led the team. The team stationed in Hubei Province was led by Li Xiaopeng, Minister of Transportation, and the team stationed in Henan was led by the Governor of the Central Bank, Yi Gang.
Regarding the Minister of Water Resources, the Minister of Ecology and Environment, and the Minister of Transportation who are led by ministerial-level officials this time, Taiwan’s general economist Wu Jialong told The Epoch Times on August 29 that the authorities dispatched ministerial-level officials in addition to expressing The deterrent effect may have other intentions.
“It may involve the misappropriation of funds for water conservancy projects. If the funds are misappropriated to inappropriate fields, the funds may be misappropriated to different departments. The heads of those departments are more aware of how the funds are transferred.”
Lu media “First Financial” reported that the State Council’s supervision and service group for stabilizing the economic market held an on-site office meeting in Zhengzhou on the 27th.In Henan, there have been frequent financial risk events such as thunderstorms at village and township banks and loan cuts in unfinished buildings.Li KeqiangName the major economic provinces that want to “play the lead”.
Wu Jialong said that this kind of supervision should be carried out by the head of the unit in the central bank that specializes in financial inspection, and it is targeted. It is a bit inappropriate for the governor to go, because the governor usually manages macro policy. “It stands to reason that if there is a problem with the local banks in Henan, the central bank should send a financial inspection team to conduct business inspections.”
In Fujian under the supervision of Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong, “guaranteeing the handover of buildings” is one of the important contents of supervision. It is reported that Fujian’s working group has representatives from 8 units of National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, China Development Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China Construction Bank.
Wu Jialong said that there was nothing wrong with guaranteeing the handover. The common people spend money and can’t get a house, and now they are asking for the guarantee to hand over the building because there is a wave of unfinished buildings that have stopped lending. The authorities have to deal with it and find one or two places to demonstrate. It may be easier for Fujian to deal with it.
As for the number of bank units dispatched, Wu Jialong said that the focus is to check how the funds were misappropriated. If you check the flow of funds, it will definitely involve collusion between officials and businessmen, so the level should be raised. In addition, the big banks came forward because the big banks themselves had loans, and they also came to check what happened to the collateral after the loans were released.
According to official media reports, the leaders of the various supervisory working groups that have been dispatched made similar speeches at the scene, emphasizing the implementation of a package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy and the implementation of follow-up policies. In the face of the working group, the top leaders of the party and government in many places stated on the spot that they “accept supervision”.
Wu Jialong believes that the current situation in China is a bit like the end of the Qing Dynasty, when various places began to have a state of local separatism, that is, the cost of maintaining stability was borne by each place, and there were small treasuries in each place. .
“Many provinces now have their own small treasuries, and they have some political and business relationships of their own. Now they have to investigate, and local governments will protect their own interests. The party and government leaders have to deal with them, lest their treasuries be found out, right? The central government will show it. Because the current fundamental problem of various localities is that the financial gap is very large. Premier Li Keqiang has already said that the central government has no money and will not give it to the localities, saying that they will make transfer payments. Therefore, various localities are trying to rob the central government. There may be more and more.”
Earlier, at the symposium held on August 16th by the principals of the major economic provincial governments, Li Keqiang made it clear that the economic aggregates of the six major economic provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan and Sichuan accounted for 45% of the country’s total. The “pillars” of the country’s economic development, the major economic provinces should be the pillars. Li Keqiang also asked the four coastal provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong to complete the task of net transfer to the central finance.
The big move of the CCP and the State Council involves high-level infighting?
In addition to the 10 provinces led by the minister to send a “stabilizing economic market supervision and service team”, the CCP media previously reported that the State Council announced on August 23 that the 9th major inspection was launched, and 19 of the 19 inspection teams inspected. Provinces include Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, etc.
According to the report, the purpose of this inspection is to implement the requirements of “the epidemic must be prevented, the economy must be stabilized, and development must be safe”, and to promote the implementation of a “package of policies to stabilize the economy”.
Shanghai writer Yang Ping (pseudonym) told The Epoch Times on August 29 that he believes that Li Keqiang’s actions to supervise and inspect are related to the infighting between the CCP’s Xi faction and the anti-Xi faction, because the CCP’s economic protection faction now has a slight upper hand, but In the Politburo, Xi Jinping still has the upper hand on the issue of epidemic prevention, and that is to insist on “dynamic clearing”. Xi relied on dynamic clearing to obstruct Li Keqiang and the State Council from normalizing the economy, and Li Keqiang had no choice.
Yang Ping said that now officials are stepping on two boats. Li Keqiang doesn’t care what your original color is, at least you can’t kill the economy by taking politics in command. And these central officials also have their own interests at the local level, as well as their own little brothers, and they are not willing to kill the economy.
“Li Keqiang sent the State Council Steering Group to persuade them, threatening to induce more incentives, and to stabilize the economy, because now it may be difficult to pay wages in many places. But the economic situation will not improve all of a sudden, because the dynamic clearing is not easy.”
Lu Zhengfeng, an associate professor at the Department of International and Mainland Affairs at National Kinmen University in Taiwan, believes that mainly because the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is about to be held, stabilizing the economy and stable growth has become the top priority of the authorities. The downward pressure on the economy is huge. If the economic province can be stabilized, the national economic situation can be stabilized. If the local provinces take care of themselves, the central government will expose its own shortcomings, and Xi’s core will suffer setbacks and embarrassment. Therefore, a working group was dispatched to inspect, highlighting the core of central power, declaring its dominant position, and not allowing us to seize power and tyranny. But overall, the Chinese economy is in trouble.
Taiwan’s general economist Wu Jialong said that China is now experiencing multiple crises at the same time: unemployment crisis, economic growth crisis, debt crisis, banking crisis, local financial crisis, crisis of lack of electricity and water… He thinks that anyone will come to pick up the prime minister All very bad. It is estimated that Premier Li Keqiang may want to retire quickly and get rid of this mess. Because multiple economic crises in China are breaking out at the same time, there is no effective solution, and now it is only superficially coping with it and delaying time.
Responsible editor: Fang Ming