CHINA will study new policies in a timely manner to promote steady growth, structural improvement, and sustained development of the economy, an official with the country’s top economic planner said yesterday.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will closely follow changes of the economic situation, evaluate the effects of policy implementation, conduct preliminary research on more supportive policies, and maintain policy options, said Zheng Shanjie, head of the NDRC, at a press conference.

The remarks came after China’s financial authorities announced a broader-than-expected policy package last month to galvanize the economy’s rebound. These policy measures include reducing the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks and mortgage rates for existing homes, as well as introducing new monetary programs to boost the capital market, among other initiatives.

Elaborating on the implementation of the incremental policies, Zheng said counter-cyclical adjustment in macro policies has been intensified, with RRR and interest rate cuts already in place.

He urged for speeding up fiscal spending to bolster the economy and providing stronger support for local governments to conduct debt replacement and defuse debt risks.

A raft of reform measures conducive to economic development will be rolled out, he said. These reforms include the formation of guidelines on building a unified national market, a new negative list for market access, and mechanisms to ensure increased investment in future industries.

China will expand the catalogue of industries that encourage foreign investment, unveil a new group of major foreign-invested projects, and make its visa-free transit policies more open, according to Zheng.

The incremental policies also aim to boost domestic consumption and investment demand, he noted.

On the investment front, ultra-long special treasury bonds will continue to be issued next year with optimized investment areas to implement major national strategies and build up security capacity in key areas, he noted.

Investment projects worth 200 billion yuan (US$14.14 billion) that are in next year’s plans will be released in advance this year, he said.

A certain proportion of these projects will involve urban renewal, mainly in the construction of pipelines for gas, water, sewage, and heating, which is expected to generate investment demand of 4 trillion yuan in the coming five years, NDRC deputy head Liu Sushe said.

More favorable policies are being provided to benefit enterprises, while measures to prop up the real estate and capital markets are being planned, Zheng said.                                   (Xinhua)