【Financial Street Release】 Minister of Finance Lan Fuanan: Fiscal Policy Will Focus on Expanding Domestic Demand, Investing in People, and Promoting Open Sharing

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Xinhua Finance Beijing, March 23 — (Reporter Sun Nan, Shen Cheng) At the China Development High-Level Forum held in Beijing on March 22, Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fuan stated that as China enters the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, fiscal policy will closely focus on promoting high-quality development and maintain an active policy tone. In policy design and implementation, efforts will be made to expand domestic demand, invest in people, and promote openness and sharing.

“While maintaining necessary deficit levels and expenditure scales, strengthening countercyclical and cross-cycle adjustments, we will also continuously optimize the expenditure structure, enhance scientific fiscal management, focus on key areas and critical links to optimize fiscal resource allocation, and constantly improve policy precision and effectiveness to achieve qualitative improvements and reasonable quantitative growth in the economy.” Regarding the fiscal policy trends for the next five years, Lan Fuan further elaborated.

This year’s government work report places “building a strong domestic market” as the top priority in planning the work tasks for the first year of the “14th Five-Year Plan.”

Lan Fuan said that fiscal policy will pay more attention to expanding domestic demand, promoting smooth domestic circulation, and enhancing endogenous development momentum. To address the prominent contradiction of strong supply but weak demand in current economic operation, comprehensive use will be made of policy tools such as deficits, special bonds, and loan interest subsidies, strengthening coordination between fiscal and financial policies, stimulating potential consumption, and expanding effective investment to build a strong domestic market.

How will fiscal policy focus on investing in people?

Lan Fuan said that fiscal investment in people will be increased. Over the next five years, efforts will be made to do our best within our capacity, continue to increase efforts to safeguard and improve people’s livelihoods, reasonably raise the proportion of public service spending in fiscal expenditure, and increase government investment in people’s well-being, thereby expanding development space while meeting people’s needs.

At the same time, Lan Fuan stated that targeted measures will be taken for different groups and fields, improving the relevance of fiscal support for investing in people. Policies for investing in people will combine demand-side and supply-side investments, integrate “hard inputs” and “soft infrastructure,” and combine government roles with market forces.

Deepening multilateral and bilateral financial cooperation, supporting the expansion of high-level opening-up, and advancing the construction of a unified national market… Lan Fuan introduced that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, fiscal policy will place greater emphasis on openness and sharing, sharing “China opportunities” with countries around the world, and promoting common development.

“In the current context of weak global economic momentum, we will unswervingly pursue open cooperation and mutual benefit, based on fiscal functions, implementing proactive fiscal policies domestically, and strengthening international financial exchanges and cooperation externally to inject more stability and positive energy into the world economy,” Lan Fuan said.

Editor: Xing Lisha