BEIJING
- China will work to ensure the supply of commodities and keep their
prices stable, to maintain steady economic performance, the State
Council's Executive Meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on
Wednesday.
Since
the beginning of this year, due to multiple factors especially the
transmission of global price rise, some commodities have seen extended
price rally, with the prices of some varieties hitting new records.
The
government must take very seriously the adverse impact caused by the
price hike, and take both holistic and focused measures in light of
market dynamics to exercise precision regulation, so as to ensure the
supply of commodities and curb unreasonable price increases and prevent
transmission to consumer price.
"We
must carefully analyze the reasons behind this round of rapid increase
in commodity prices and focus on the crux of the issue, to adopt
measures in a targeted and holistic approach," Li said.
A
host of steps was decided upon to strengthen two-way adjustment of
supply and demand, including raising export tariffs on certain iron and
steel products, temporarily exempting tariffs on pig iron and scrap
steel, and canceling export tax rebates for some steel products, to
increase supply in the domestic market. Dedicated efforts will be made
to advance structural adjustments and discourage projects with high
energy consumption.
The
country's rich coal resources will be further tapped. Key coal
companies will be encouraged to raise production and supply while
ensuring safety, and the capacity of wind, solar, hydro and nuclear
power will be increased to ensure energy supply during summer peak time.
Opening-up
will be pushed forward, to re-calibrate the import, export and buffer
reserves of commodities, facilitate customs clearance and better
leverage international and domestic markets and resources, to more
effectively ensure supply and keep prices stable.
Market
regulation will be strengthened. Industry associations should play
their due role in enhancing industry self-discipline. The regulation of
futures and spot markets will be better coordinated and targeted
measures will be taken when appropriate to screen abnormal transactions
and malicious speculations. Irregularities such as making and executing
monopoly deals, spreading false information, price gouging and hoarding
will be dealt with to the full extent of the law and brought to light.
"While
the market continues to play a decisive role in resources allocation to
ensure the supply of commodities and keep their prices stable, the
government must better fulfill its responsibility. Any monopoly and
hoarding will be cracked down upon under the law to step upmarket
regulation," Li said.
Efforts
will be made to maintain the stability of monetary policy and keep the
RMB exchange rate broadly stable at an adaptive, balanced level, to
guide market expectations as appropriate.
Assistance
will be provided to help market entities, especially micro and small
businesses and self-employed individuals, cope with rising costs and
other difficulties in their production and operation.
Policies
to provide tax relief for micro and small enterprises and
individually-owned businesses and refund all due VAT credits to advanced
manufacturing enterprises on a monthly basis will be effectively
implemented, and procedures for such concessional tax policies
streamlined. Direct-benefit monetary policy tools will be well executed.
Re-lending and rediscounting will be scaled up to underpin inclusive
finance. Policies to incentivize reductions in the guarantee fees of
financing for micro and small enterprises will be well exercised, to
encourage banks to issue more credit-based loans.
"Policies
for tax and fee cuts and inclusive finance will be refined, and
assistance to market entities in difficulty scaled up. All the temporary
support policies must be fully delivered, to safeguard the lawful
rights and interests of micro and small firms and self-employed
individuals," Li said.
