CRI听力: China's Stimulus Measures Continue to Pay Off

 

Senior Chinese economic officials say China's stimulus measures have continued to help stabilize and revive the economy amid the international financial crisis.

They also pledge to maintain the current stimulus polices, which have done much to improve the lives of Chinese citizens.

Shuang Feng, CRI news.(www.hXen.com)

Reporter:

At a press conference on Friday, China's top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, said China's stimulus measures have gotten its economy on track for recovery.

Zhu Zhixin is deputy minister of the commission.

"Since the latter half of last year, China has adopted proactive fiscal and moderately relaxed monetary policies to combat the economic crisis. So far, these stimulus measures have been of great help in reviving the economy. In the first half of this year, China's GDP increased by 7.1 percent year-on-year. This stable operation of the economy proves the effectiveness of our stimulus policies."

Meanwhile, China's vice finance minister, Ding Xuedong, says the proactive fiscal policy has helped improve people's livelihoods.

"This year, the central budget appropriates nearly 730 billion yuan for job creation, social security and other sectors. This kind of investment is nearly 30 percent more than that of last year. Among the investment, about 300 billion yuan goes to the social security sector. And 42 billion yuan was used to boost employment, an increase of 67 percent year-on-year."

Statistics show nearly six million people in urban areas have benefited from the stimulus measures and found jobs in the first half of the year.

Moreover, the government has funded the building of 250,000 flats in an effort to house low-income families during the first half of 2009.

As the stimulus measures continue to pay off, Zhu Zhixin said China will maintain these macro-economic policies in the near future.

"We have come to a critical juncture in our efforts to promote economic stabilization and rebound. Under such circumstances, we feel obliged to emphasize the need to keep the current orientation of our macroeconomic polices. To maintain economic growth in the second half of the year, we need to maintain the consistency and stability of our economic policies. We should continue to implement the proactive fiscal policy and moderately relaxed monetary policy. "

He stressed that the negative impact of the global financial crisis on China's economy can't be eased in a short period of time.

Thus, he said China still faces the grave task of stimulating its economy despite initial signs of recovery.

Shuang Feng, CRI news.