Minister of Finance Lian Foan announced at a press conference that the Ministry of Finance, on the basis of accelerating the implementation of established policies, will introduce a package of targeted incremental policy measures in the near future around stabilizing growth, expanding domestic demand, and reducing risks. This package of incremental policies includes support for local governments in resolving hidden debts, supporting large state-owned commercial banks in replenishing core tier-one capital, supporting efforts to stabilize and revive the real estate market, and increasing support and protection for key groups.

Fiscal Policy:

Lian Foan: There is still considerable room for central finance to increase the deficit

Minister of Finance Lian Foan stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that counter-cyclical adjustments are not limited to just a few points. Other policy tools are also under research, and there is still considerable room for increasing the deficit in central finance.

Lan Fuan: Encourage eligible regions to revitalize idle assets and strengthen the management of state-owned capital returns.

Minister of Finance Lian Foan stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that it is encouraged for eligible localities to revitalize idle assets, strengthen the management of state-owned capital income, make efforts to increase fiscal revenue, guide localities to use existing funds such as budget stabilization and adjustment funds in accordance with the law and regulations, to ensure the needs of fiscal expenditures.

Lan Fo'an: Next step will strengthen the adjustment of the library funds, and the central finance will provide appropriate support through early adjustment.

Minister of Finance Lǎn Fó'ān stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that the next step will be to strengthen the management of funds in inventories. In areas with tight funds, the central government's finance will provide appropriate support through advance inventory management, urge provincial finance departments to strengthen fund monitoring, and enhance the financial support capacity at the grassroots level.

Real Estate:

Lǎn Fó'ān: Overlay the use of tools such as local government special bonds, special funds, and tax policies to support stabilizing the real estate market.

Minister of Finance Lǎn Fó'ān stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that overlaying the use of local government special bonds, special funds, and tax policies to support stabilizing the real estate market.

Liao Min: Currently intensively studying the VAT policy that clarifies and cancels the connection between the standards of ordinary residences and non-ordinary residences.

Deputy Minister of Finance Liào Mín stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that optimizing and improving relevant tax policies in a timely manner, and is actively studying to clarify and cancel the value-added tax policy related to the convergence of ordinary and non-ordinary residential standards.

Liào Mín: Allow special bonds to be used for land reserves. Regions with a genuine need can use them for new land reserve projects.

Deputy Minister of Finance Liào Mín stated at the State Council Information Office press conference that the Ministry of Finance and relevant departments are working together to focus on promoting the balance of supply and demand in the real estate market. In the next step, the Ministry of Finance will actively study and introduce incremental measures favorable to the stable development of real estate, allowing special bonds to be used for land reserves. This is mainly considering the relatively high amount of unused undeveloped land in various regions currently, allowing regions with genuine needs to use them for new land reserve projects.

Liao Min: Will use special bonds to purchase existing commodity houses.

NIFA Vice Minister Liao Min stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that in order to increase the supply of affordable housing, considering the surplus of unsold housing currently available, they will use special bonds to purchase existing commodity houses. They will continue to make good use of subsidies for affordable housing projects, further optimizing and adjusting the support direction, appropriately reducing new construction scale, and supporting local governments to acquire more existing houses through various means.

Special Bonds:

Lan Fo'an: Issuing special bonds to support large state-owned commercial banks to supplement core Tier 1 capital.

Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that special bonds will be issued to support large state-owned commercial banks in complementing their core Tier 1 capital.

Wang Dongwei: Has issued regulations for the supervision of ultra-long-term special bonds and established a reserve fund system.

NIFA Vice Minister Wang Dongwei stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that the Ministry of Finance recently issued regulations for the supervision of ultra-long-term special bonds, proposing the establishment of a comprehensive lifecycle management system, implementation of dedicated account management, establishment of a reserve fund system, and adoption of stricter, more practical, and detailed measures to effectively manage and utilize the funds from ultra-long-term special bonds. They will complete this year's 1 trillion yuan ultra-long-term bond issuance task as planned, and promptly allocate budget funds accordingly.

Local Bonds:

Lan Fuan: Overall alleviation of local government debt risks.

Minister of Finance Lian Fo'an stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that the overall risk of local government debt has been alleviated, and the debt-to-equity swap work has achieved phased results.

Lan Fuan: Intends to increase the debt limit on a large scale once, replacing the accumulated hidden debts of local governments.

Minister of Finance Lian Fo'an stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that there are plans to increase the debt ceiling significantly in one go, replace the existing hidden debts of local governments, increase efforts to support local debt risk resolution. The related policies will be fully explained to the public after going through the relevant statutory procedures. This policy is the most significant measure to support debt restructuring in recent years, providing timely help to greatly reduce the pressure on local governments, freeing up more resources to support economic development, and strengthening the grassroots social security network.

Lian Fo'an: Issued a total of 3.6 trillion yuan in new special bonds from January to September.

Minister of Finance Lian Fo'an stated at the State Council Information Office press conference that since the beginning of this year, the finance department has consistently pursued an active fiscal policy with additional measures to enhance quality and effectiveness. Actively expanding domestic effective demand, issuing 3.6 trillion yuan in new special bonds from January to September, supporting over 30,000 projects, with over 260 billion yuan used as project capital.

Financial and tax system reform:

Lian Fo'an: Plans to roll out a series of well-prepared, tangible deepening financial and tax system reform measures in the next two years.

On October 12, Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an stated that efforts are being made to introduce a plan to deepen the reform of the financial and tax system. The plan will adhere to problem-oriented and goal-oriented approaches, focusing on accelerating reform, promoting scientific financial management, and integrating them organically, actively responding to social and grassroots concerns. A preliminary plan to deepen the reform of the financial and tax system has been initially formulated, serving as the roadmap for future reforms. The implementation of reform measures will be expedited, with a plan to unveil a batch of mature and tangible reform measures in the next two years, especially fundamental institutional reforms related to top-level design, such as improving the budget system and enhancing the fiscal transfer payment system.

People's Livelihood:

Lian Fu'an: National education expenditure exceeded 3 trillion yuan from January to September.

Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an stated at the Information Office press conference on October 12 that greater support will be provided for basic livelihood protection. Since the beginning of this year, the central government has allocated 66.7 billion yuan for employment subsidies. National education expenditures from January to September exceeded 3 trillion yuan.

Lan Fo'an: The bottom line of "three guarantees" at the grassroots level is guaranteed.

Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an stated at the Information Office press conference on October 12 that based on the calculation of the total financial resources at the grassroots level nationwide, the bottom line of the grassroots "three guarantees" is guaranteed. Taking 2023 as an example, the expenditure on the grassroots "three guarantees" accounts for about 50% of the available financial resources, and with some rigid expenditures added, it accounts for about 80% of the available financial resources. The next step will involve researching and formulating a list for the "three guarantees," actively constructing a long-term mechanism, and securing the bottom line of the grassroots "three guarantees."

Lan Fo'an: This year, the minimum standard for basic pensions for urban and rural residents has been further increased by the largest margin in history.

Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an stated at the Information Office press conference that in 2024, there will be a further increase in the minimum standard of basic pensions for urban and rural residents, marking the largest adjustment in history. The overall level of pension benefits for retirees will increase by about 3%.

Guo Tingting: The number of National Scholarship awards will double in 2024.

Deputy Minister of Finance Guo Tingting stated at the State Council Information Office press conference on October 12 that the number of National Scholarship awards will double in 2024. The number of undergraduate national scholarship awards will increase from 0.06 million to 0.12 million per year, and the number of master's students will increase from 0.035 million to 0.07 million. The award standard for undergraduate national scholarships will be raised from 8,000 yuan per year to 0.01 million yuan.

Editor/Somer