Reforms, rate cuts to improve conditions for firms
China is expected to maintain stable economic development for the rest of this year and achieve the goal of 7 percent GDP growth, according to an article posted Wednesday on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner.
The nation has released a series of economic policies and carried out reforms starting late 2014 and these measures will continue to have an influence for the rest of 2015, Zhu Baoliang, a director at the State Information Center, said in the article.
To deal with weak domestic demand, China has lifted home-purchase limits in some cities and facilitated trade procedures.
Moreover, since November 2014, China has cut interest rates five times and reduced banks' required reserve ratios four times. Together with other currency-related policies, enterprises' financing situation has become less difficult.
China also has adopted many reforms to encourage the market, including simplifying administrative approval procedures and lowering the thresholds for financial sectors.
As a result of these efforts, GDP growth reached 7 percent in the first six months of this year. From April, a recovery among industries brought stable employment, leading to an unemployment rate of only about 5.1 percent.
The economic structure has seen an improvement, with tertiary industries accounting for 49.5 percent of GDP in the first half of this year, 2.1 percentage points higher on a yearly basis.
High-tech industries still have strong growth momentum. From January to June, the year-on-year growth rates of the robot industry, new-energy vehicle sector and locomotive manufacturing all surpassed 50 percent. E-commerce sales had about 40 percent growth on a yearly basis during the period.
Now, China's economy still has the potential to achieve medium- or high-speed growth, the article said, noting that after decades of development, China has advantages in capital, labor and technology.
In recent years, China deepened administrative system reform, leading to promotion of the private sector and service industries.
East China and coastal areas have achieved good momentum in using new technology and new business models.
Meanwhile, less-favored industries can find new opportunities in the central and western sections of the country, making them a new driving force for the economy.
