Stabilize growth while reining in inflation, Li says

Premier urges sound measures to boost employment among college graduates

Premier Li Keqiang has called for parallel steps to stabilize economic growth and prevent inflation, saying that the foundation of the ongoing economic recovery is not yet solid and greater efforts must be made to enforce policy measures that have already been rolled out.

Li emphasized the importance of ensuring that policy measures are appropriate and proportionate to prevent negative spillovers in the future as he presided over a symposium attended by experts and business leaders on the performance of the economy on Tuesday.

His remarks came as a number of key economic indicators have pointed to a recovery in June after a severe downturn in April, when a surge in COVID-19 cases in Shanghai and other key manufacturing hubs in East China forced a prolonged lockdown and disrupted industry and supply chains.

China's imports and exports combined rose 14.3 percent year-on-year in June, according to the General Administration of Customs, registering a strong pickup from the 9.5 percent increase in May and much stronger than the 0.1 percent growth in April.

The official purchasing managers index for China's manufacturing sector in June came in at 50.2, compared with 49.6 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics reported, signifying a return to expansionary territory for the first time since February. The NBS is set to unveil major economic indicators of the first half of the year on Friday.

The premier spoke with Su Jian and Wu Ge, both economists, and executives from State Power Investment Corp, Liandong Group and DHgate, a company devoted to cross-border e-commerce.

He noted that the second quarter of the year was extraordinary for China's economic growth, saying that factors that went beyond expectations have hit growth hard and exerted fresh downward pressure on the economy.

Li underscored the need for arduous efforts to stabilize economic fundamentals with a large number of uncertain factors in the nation's development environment.

He stressed the importance of maintaining major economic indicators within a proper range, saying that the nation must give priority to preventing imported inflation.

The over 160 million market players in China are the key impetus for economic growth and the pillar for the job market, he said, adding that the various aid packages to businesses must be put in place in a concrete manner.

He highlighted the imperative to further unclog major logistics corridors, ensure unimpeded industry and supply chains and stabilize market expectations.

The government must adopt sound measures to promote employment among college graduates and rural migrant workers and take resolute steps to prohibit various forms of discrimination in the job market, he said.

The premier highlighted stable grain and energy prices as the key to stabilizing commodity prices, calling for stronger steps to ensure bumper grain harvests for this year, bolster the power supply from coal-fired plants and prevent power outages.

He urged steps that are in keeping with market principles to boost consumer spending in a sustainable manner and remove barriers that restrict effective investment.

Authorities must coordinate their various measures, avoid sweeping policies, continue to expand opening-up and support businesses to conduct wide-ranging international cooperation, he said.