NDRC brings forward investment plans
Photo taken on Oct. 30, 2024 shows workers busy producing self-drilling screws for overseas orders at a smart manufacturing workshop of Hebei Xilide Metal Manufacture Co., Ltd. in Handan, north China's Hebei Province. [Photo by Hu Gaolei/China News Service]
China will bring forward part of the investment plans originally set for 2025 to this year while studying to expand the scope that local government special bonds can be used, as part of the country's stepped-up efforts to spur investment and achieve steady economic growth, officials said at a news conference on October 8, 2024.
Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said the top economic regulator plans to allocate the investment plans for next year's central government budget of 100 billion yuan (14.2 billion U.S. dollars) and another 100 billion yuan for key investment projects by the end of this year in advance.
Zheng said that the NDRC is looking more closely at how to enlarge the support provided by local government special bonds. This includes broadening the area, scale and proportion of special bond funds used as project capital, with specific reform measures to be launched as soon as possible.
Special bonds will be used to vitalize idle land to stabilize the property market, Zheng said, adding that the country will continue to issue ultra-long special sovereign bonds next year and support local governments in carrying out debt swaps to defuse debt risks.
"In response to the downward pressure on the economy, we will strengthen the counter-cyclical adjustments of macro policies and continue to exert greater force in all areas," Zheng said.
The latest policy announcement to spur investment comes after China released a set of measures to ease monetary policy and shore up the housing market amid renewed economic downward pressures, with the growth of industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment slowed in August.
Liu Sushe, deputy head of the NDRC, said the commission plans to issue investment plans and projects for the 200 billion yuan at the end of October, which can translate into physical work volume within this year.
Meanwhile, Liu said the measures mulled to improve the management of local government special bonds are expected to give local governments more autonomy in the review process and help special bonds play a bigger role in investment.
Special bonds are invested in specific projects that can generate a stable income to pay off the debt. In the first three quarters, local governments issued 2.83 trillion yuan of this year's special bond quota used for project construction worth 3.12 trillion yuan, official data showed.
Liu said the commission will urge local governments to issue the remaining 290 billion yuan in special bonds allocated for this year by the end of October and ensure that the construction of related projects begins as soon as possible.
Public data potential set to be unleashed
Nineteen overseas Chinese media professionals from 11 countries and regions visit the National Big Data (Guizhou) Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Oct. 12, 2024. [Photo by Qu Honglun/China News Service]
China's latest push to accelerate the development and utilization of public data resources is expected to fully unleash the potential of public data elements, help cultivate new competitive advantages and inject fresh impetus into high-quality economic growth, officials and experts said.
Their comments came following a guideline released jointly by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on October 9, 2024.
The country will take steps to expand the supply of public data resources and promote the opening of public data in an orderly manner, while encouraging and exploring the authorization and operation of public data, according to the guideline.
The guideline focuses on removing institutional barriers that affect the development and utilization of data resources, and serves as a significant link in building the basic systems for data, said Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, at a news conference in Beijing on October 10.
Liu emphasized that it will give full play to the role of data in empowering the real economy, expanding consumer demand and investment space, as well as improving governance capacity.
Meanwhile, the guideline is conducive to bolstering the utilization of public data resources, facilitating the development of a digital economy and giving a strong boost to the data industry, Liu added.
He said the administration will soon roll out supportive documents regarding the registration, authorization, operation and pricing mechanism of public data resources.
Looking ahead, more efforts will be made to deepen reforms related to the market-oriented allocation of data elements and improve the basic systems for data, Liu said.
By 2025, the system and rules for the development and utilization of public data resources will be initially established, the supply quantity and quality of data resources will be significantly improved, and a number of data elements enterprises will be cultivated, according to the guideline.
By 2030, a comprehensive system for the development and utilization of public data resources will be set up, with compliant and efficient data circulation and use. The guideline also encourages innovative application to promote the healthy development of the data industry.
"The launch of the guideline marks an important step in propelling the development and utilization of public data resources in China," said Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy.
The move, Zhu said, will help improve the supply scale and quality of data, enrich data products and services, and promote the efficient utilization of public data resources in key industries and regions.
Zhu noted that the country's accelerated layout in the data element market will provide solid support for the sustainable and healthy development of the digital economy, generate new business forms, models and services that are based on data, create more job opportunities and inject new momentum into economic growth.
Statistics from the National Data Administration showed that China's total data output reached 32.85 zettabytes in 2023, up 22.4% year on year, while the added value of core digital economy industries accounted for 10% of gross domestic product.
Ouyang Rihui, assistant dean of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said unleashing the value of public data resources is conducive to propelling the digital transformation and high-quality development, as well as speeding up the establishment of a national unified data elements market.