Beijing’s top economic planner warned yesterday that the global economic crisis would pose great challenges for China, as he urged the government to fine-tune its large-scale stimulus plan.
“We are confronted with great challenges resulting from a dramatic change in the world economic and financial situation,” National Development and Reform Commission head Zhang Ping (張平) told parliament. “If we are unable to properly deal with the difficulties, we might be faced with grave risks in failing to realize our strategic goals in economic and social development.”
In the remarks carried by Xinhua news agency, Zhang referred to the government’s hope to maintain fast-paced and sustainable growth to ensure employment for its huge population.
The economic planner told parliament that since the third quarter the impact of the global meltdown had spread from China’s coastal regions to its inland areas and from export-oriented industries to other sectors.
Along with slowing third quarter growth, investment demand had weakened and industries were facing falling revenues and lower profits, he said.
The government’s US$586 billion package aimed at stimulating domestic consumption was a good start, he said, but needed to be carefully targeted.
“Detailed plans on expansion of domestic demand over the next two years should be formulated as soon as possible,” Zhang said. “Measures to maintain stable export growth should be formed without delay.”
China’s economic growth slowed to 9 percent in the third quarter of this year as global financial woes started taking a toll, prompting the government to announce the stimulus package.
Owing to the slowdown, growth in the world’s fourth-largest economy weakened to 9.9 percent over the first three quarters of the year.
Zhang said: “Sustainable development should be emphasized by promoting energy conservation and emission reduction,” referring to another strategic goal.
“Employment should be a priority in the government agenda over the next two years,” especially the employment of migrant workers, some of whom have already lost their jobs because of the economic slowdown, he said.
“The stability of agriculture is essential against a backdrop of an international financial crisis,” said Zhang, urging increased production and larger peasant incomes.
Xinhua called Zhang’s address a “somber report on how the intensifying impact of the world financial and economic crisis is reverberating through China’s economy.”
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS