Caixin News Agency reported on October 12th that the State Council Information Office held a press conference this morning to introduce the relevant situation of "increasing the intensity of countercyclical fiscal policies and promoting high-quality economic development." The following are the main contents of the press conference:

Minister of Finance, Liao Fa'an:

Countercyclical adjustment not only includes policies that have entered the decision-making process, but also other policy tools that are still under study. For example, the central finance still has a large amount of debt space and deficit enhancement space.

It is planned to significantly increase the amount of one-time debt limit, replace the existing hidden debts of local governments, and increase support to help local governments resolve debt risks.

China's finance has sufficient resilience. By taking comprehensive measures, it can achieve a balance between revenue and expenditure and meet the annual budget target.

Building on the rapid implementation of established policies, the Ministry of Finance will introduce a series of targeted incremental policy measures in the near future focusing on stabilizing growth, expanding domestic demand, and managing risks.

The Ministry of Finance will issue special national bonds to support large state-owned commercial banks in supplementing capital.

Overall easing of local debt risks, with phased achievements in debt-to-equity swaps.

Encourage areas with conditions to revive idle assets, strengthen the management of state-owned capital returns, and strive to increase fiscal revenue.

Strengthening the adjustment of treasury funds, for regions facing tight treasury funds, the central government will provide appropriate support through advance scheduling.

Issuing 400 billion debt arrears to local governments for supplementing their overall financial strength.

In 2024, the minimum standard for basic retirement pensions for urban and rural residents was further increased, with the largest adjustment in previous increases, resulting in an overall increase of around 3% in retirees' pension levels.

Plan to launch a series of reform measures in the next two years that are mature and tangible, especially some fundamental institutional reforms that are related to top-level design, such as improving the budget system and enhancing the fiscal transfer payment system.

Deputy Minister of Finance, Liao Min:

Will actively study and introduce measures favorable for the stable development of the real estate sector.

Use special bonds to purchase existing commodity real estate as affordable housing in various regions.

We are actively studying and clarifying the VAT policy that connects and cancels the standards of ordinary and non-ordinary residential properties.

The capital replenishment work of state-owned major banks has been initiated, waiting for banks to submit their capital replenishment proposals.

Vice Minister of Finance Wang Dongwei:

In 2024, an additional special bonds limit of 3.9 trillion is set, the largest scale in history.

Will study expanding the scope of special bonds use to maintain government investment intensity and pace, and reasonably reduce financing costs.

The next focus of special bonds is to study expanding the scope of special bonds use and improve management mechanisms.

The Ministry of Finance will perfect the special bonds project asset ledger, ensure the balance between government debt and project assets, thoroughly explore the early repayment of special bonds, and study the establishment of a sound debt repayment reserve fund system.

Deputy Minister Guo Tingting of the Ministry of Finance:

In 2024, the number of national scholarships doubled, with the number of undergraduate national scholarships increasing from 0.06 million per year to 0.12 million, and the number of master's students increasing from 0.035 million to 0.07 million.

Raising the reward standard for undergraduates, the national reward standard for undergraduate students increased from 8,000 yuan per year to 0.01 million yuan.

Editor/Somer