China has the confidence to achieve about 5-percent annual GDP growth target, and the country will step up counter-cyclical adjustments in fiscal policy in addition to monetary policy stimulus, China’s Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min said on Friday during a meeting of the World Bank, according to a statement seen on China’s Ministry of Finance on Sunday.
The Chinese government recently has introduced a barrage of incremental pro-growth policies that have garnered significant international attention, Liao said.
He expounded that Chinese policymakers will also implement a series of robust measures in areas including addressing local government debt, stabilizing the real estate market, raising incomes for key social groups, safeguarding people’s livelihoods, as well as promoting equipment upgrades and the trade-in of consumer goods.
“These initiatives aim to leverage government spending to stimulate overall social investment and consumption, thereby increasing effective market demand,” Liao said. He stressed that China is confident in achieving the annual economic growth target of around 5 percent, further increasing the impetus to ramp up economic growth.
The comments were made at the World Bank’s 110th Meeting of the Development Committee held in Washington DC on Friday.
During the meeting, Liao noted the positive progress in World Bank’s reform led by President Ajay Banga, adding that China supports the reform recommendations contained in the A Future-Ready World Bank Group report, and China looks forward to their swift implementation.
Participants of the meeting broadly support the World Bank in becoming a larger, better, and more effective multilateral development bank, and commend the World Bank for implementing a series of reforms in building a knowledge bank, improving institutional operational efficiency, enhancing financial capacity, and mobilizing private sector resources, the statement said.
All parties have high expectations for the 21st replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA) to provide greater concessional funding to low-income countries, assisting them in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. All parties also support the World Bank in conducting the 2025 shareholder review in accordance with the Lima Principles.
According to Liao, China hopes that the World Bank will use the 2025 shareholder review as an opportunity to ensure its governance structure will better reflect the new dynamics of the global economic landscape. China also supports the 21st replenishment of IDA and is willing to contribute within its own capacity, Liao said.
In the first three quarters this year, China’s GDP grew by 4.8 percent to reach 94.97 trillion yuan ($13.33 trillion), data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed, indicating that the world’s second-largest economy continues to expand despite facing a range of internal and external challenges.