China announced a series of measures to protect its economy and workers from the impact of an intensifying trade war with the United States on Monday, as officials said they remained “fully confident” of hitting the country’s annual economic growth target of about 5 per cent.
Beijing will encourage companies to maintain stable hiring, stepping up vocational training schemes, expanding employment through public works programmes and other supportive projects, and strengthening public employment services, according to Zhao.
Sheng Qiuping, deputy minister of commerce, said Beijing would increase support for companies affected by US tariffs by helping them pivot to the domestic market and providing fiscal and financial services.
The government has already allocated 160 billion yuan (US$22 billion) for trade-in programmes to encourage consumers to spend on a range of big-ticket consumer goods so far this year, with another 140 billion yuan of investment to follow, according to Zhao.
It is also working on a range of other consumption-boosting policies, including a childcare subsidy scheme, targeted re-lending tools, expanded support for the services and elderly care sectors, and moves to relax municipal restrictions on car license plates to allow more households to buy vehicles, Zhao added.
Wow. I’d love to see the USA adopt any of those measures.