China fully confident in achieving 2025 GDP growth target: official

Beijing - China is fully confident in achieving the economic growth target of around 5 percent this year as there is solid foundation, support and guarantee, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference on Thursday.

Describing last year's economic performance as satisfactory, Zheng said that the Chinese economy has shown strong resilience and vitality, laying a solid foundation for this year's development.

In 2025, China will step up efforts to boost consumer spending, Zheng said. The country will allocate 300 billion yuan (about 41.8 billion U.S. dollars) to support the consumer goods trade-in program this year, up from 150 billion yuan in 2024, with the scope of the program to be expanded.

According to Zheng, a special action plan aimed at boosting consumption has recently been formulated by multiple departments and will be made public soon.

Effective investment will also be expanded this year, he said, noting that the country will support investment by private enterprises in emerging industries and industries of the future.

China last year recommended over 8,000 projects to private investors to encourage their investment, he said, noting that the country will introduce a number of major projects that will be attractive to private capital in sectors including railways, nuclear power, water conservancy, major scientific and technological infrastructure this year.

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China to establish national venture capital guidance fund

Beijing - China will establish a national venture capital guidance fund in the near future with the aim of strengthening the development of innovative enterprises, the country's top economic planner said Thursday.

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China has sufficient reserve tools, policies to address uncertainties: finance minister

Beijing - The Chinese central government has sufficient reserve tools and policy space to address potential internal and external uncertainties, Finance Minister Lan Fo'an told a press conference Thursday.

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China to maintain exchange rate flexibility, guard against overshooting: official

Beijing - China will maintain exchange rate flexibility while strengthening expectation guidance and resolutely guarding against the risk of exchange rate overshooting, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, told a press conference on Thursday.

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China to cut RRRs, interest rates in light of economic, financial conditions in 2025

Beijing - China will cut reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) and interest rates when appropriate this year in line with domestic and international economic and financial conditions as well as the performance of financial markets, the country's central bank governor said Thursday.

The average RRR for China's financial institutions now stands at 6.6 percent, and there is still room for further reduction, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Pan said there is also room for lowering the rates of funds that the central bank provides to commercial banks via structural monetary policy instruments.

He said the central bank will use a variety of monetary policy tools, including open market operations, medium-term lending facilities, re-lending and rediscounts, as well as policy rates, to maintain ample liquidity in the market, reduce banks' liability costs, and further drive down the overall costs of social financing.

The central bank will also study and introduce new structural monetary policy instruments to support the investment and financing in the area of sci-tech innovation, boost consumption, and stabilize foreign trade, Pan said.

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China welcomes international investment in technology enterprises: central bank governor

Beijing - China welcomes international investors to invest in the country's technology enterprises, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, China opposes the instrumentalization and politicization of market-based investment activities, as well as the establishment of unfair investment barriers, Pan told a press conference on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Noting that China's technological innovation is vibrant, Pan said the central bank, in collaboration with relevant departments, has in recent years increased financial support for technological innovation by comprehensively utilizing tools such as equity, debt and insurance.

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China to launch "sci-tech board" in bond market

Beijing - China will launch a "sci-tech board" in its bond market to promote the issuance of sci-tech innovation bonds by financial institutions, tech firms and private equity investment institutions, the country's central bank governor said Thursday.

The "sci-tech board" aims to guide bond funds toward sci-tech innovation more effectively and at a lower cost, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, told a press conference on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress.

China will also optimize re-lending policies for sci-tech innovation and technological transformation this year, Pan said.

The country will further expand the scale of such re-lending from the current 500 billion yuan (about 70 billion U.S. dollars) to up to 1 trillion yuan to better meet the financing needs of enterprises, Pan said.

He added that efforts will be made to maintain the intensity of fiscal interest subsidies and effectively reduce corporate financing costs.

Pan also said China will develop new structural monetary policy tools, with a focus on supporting investment and financing in the sci-tech innovation sector.

Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said at the press conference that the commission will facilitate the improvement of supporting mechanisms dedicated to sci-tech enterprises, and will more precisely support the listing of high-quality technology companies.

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China's local government debt risks effectively mitigated: official

Beijing - China's local government debt risks have been effectively mitigated, Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an told a press conference on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, local governments had issued bonds totaling 2.96 trillion yuan (about 413 billion U.S. dollars) aimed at replacing existing debt, said the minister.

The bonds issued last year for the replacement of 2 trillion yuan of local government debt saw an average reduction in interest rates by over 2.5 percentage points, said Lan.

It is estimated that these bonds will reduce interest payments by over 200 billion yuan over five years, significantly easing the funding pressures and interest costs for local governments, Lan noted.

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China to introduce new supportive policies as needed to stabilize foreign trade: minister

Beijing - China will accelerate efforts to research and reserve new supportive policies to stabilize foreign trade, which will be introduced promptly when needed, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told a press conference Thursday.

The policies aim to address pressing challenges while promoting high-quality trade development, Wang said, stressing all-out efforts to stabilize foreign trade.

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China to introduce interest subsidy policies to boost consumption

Beijing - China will roll out new interest subsidy policies on certain loans to ease financial burdens on individuals and businesses to stimulate consumption, Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an said Thursday.

The fiscal interest subsidies will be provided to personal consumer loans in key sectors and business loans in industries closely related to daily life, such as catering, hospitality, healthcare, elderly care, childcare, and domestic services, Lan told a press conference on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Lan said the policies will reduce financial pressure on consumers and lower the financing costs for businesses.

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China-U.S. cooperation serves fundamental interests of both peoples: commerce minister

Beijing - China-U.S. cooperation serves the fundamental interests of both peoples and meets the expectations of the international community, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said Thursday.

The respective success of China and the United States presents each other with opportunities, rather than threats, Wang said at a press conference on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Commenting on the recent U.S. move to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods using the fentanyl issue as a pretext, Wang said this act "distorts facts and confuses right and wrong."

The U.S. trade and investment restrictions are typical acts of unilateralism and bullying that "hurt others without benefiting itself," he noted.

"Attempts to coerce or blackmail China will not succeed, nor will they intimidate China," he said.