China Is Going to Have a Dig at Its Economy: New Foreign Investors Policy and More than 1 Trillion Yuan as an Incentive



09/15/2015 4:17 PM


The Chinese authorities have approved a recommendation for a list of industries and individual companies to be closed for foreign investors, the agency "Xinhua" reports, citing its own sources.



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On Tuesday, Central Leading Group on Comprehensively Deepening Reforms led by President Xi Jinping agreed on the need for list of exceptions to regulate access for foreigners to the Chinese market.

Beijing hopes that this step will enhance the market’s role in resource allocation, and will help create a business environment based on the rule of law.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that China intends to carry out a serious reform of large state companies, planning to actively attract private investment in the public sector.

The aim of the plan, submitted by Chinese regulators, is to reform the "zombie companies" along with the promotion of cooperation between state and private capital, the regulators’ report says.

The Chinese government began to prepare detailed plans of reorganization that are expected to affect tens of thousands of companies.

The reform involves the division of state-owned companies into two groups - one group will include companies focused on income generation, the other - the rest.

The Government will seek to attract private capital in various sectors - from energy and transport to telecommunications, regulators say.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), established in 2003 and manages the activities of more than 100 large state-owned companies of China, will be reformed as part of the announced plan.

The reform of state-owned companies can increase the growth rate of China's GDP, by at least 0.33 percentage points a year, according to a study prepared by the experts of the State Council.

The state-owned companies’ reform plan is the largest since ninetieth, writes Bloomberg.

A few days earlier, the agency "Xinhua" reported, referring to a fresh report of the China International Capital Corp. (CICC), that the Chinese authorities are considering the deployment of fiscal stimulus programs worth more than 1 trillion yuan ($ 156.7 billion).

In total, from 1.2 trillion yuan ($ 188 billion) to 1.5 trillion yuan ($ 235 billion) can be spent on the replenishment of the investment projects, many of which have already been approved.

Such infusions will provide the total investment potential of 5 - 7 trillion yuan in the next three years or from 2.5% to 3.4% of GDP (as of 2015) per year, according to the CICC.

Investment projects will be financed not only by the state but also by commercial banks and private investors through a public-private partnership.

Fiscal policy in China "will work in full force to support the growth," says CICC.

Chinese authorities have decided to stimulate the slowing economic growth by "more decisive" fiscal policy. In addition to the allocation of funds for the financing of infrastructure projects and tax cuts for small businesses, Beijing intends to accelerate the process of approval of duty-free shops construction.

The Ministry of Finance of China also announced plans to introduce quotas on debt issuance by local and regional authorities. Earlier this year, the Chinese regulator imposed restrictions on the volume of outstanding bonds of these issuers; the ceiling is 16 trillion yuan ($ 2.5 billion) now.

In an effort to ease the debt burden of the regions, Beijing introduced a program of 3.2 trillion yuan volume, allowing local and regional authorities to issue bonds for raising funds to repay the securities placed earlier under higher interest rates.

The growth rate of China's GDP in the first and second quarter of 2015 amounted to 7%, which is the least during six years. Statistical data on China's economy for July and August are indicating a continued weakening of the economic recovery, despite a series of reductions in the key rate by the Chinese central bank and a number of other measures taken by the authorities of the country.

CICC was established in 1995, headquartered in Beijing, has offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and New York. It is the first and one of the largest investment banks in China.

 


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