Local governments to get more fiscal support: CPC
Beijing on Friday said it will boost local governments' fiscal capacity and expand their tax sources, a day after it laid out a resolution on further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernisation. At a press conference to explain the guiding principles from the third plenary session which concluded on Thursday, Han Wenxiu, deputy director in charge of the party's financial and economic affairs said the central government will be increasing its fiscal spending obligations.  He noted that President Xi Jinping had pointed out that economic structural reform and livelihood improvement are at the forefront of accelerating reform. "To address the fiscal difficulties faced by the local governments and grassroots-level governments, we need to improve the fiscal relations between the central and local governments, increase the fiscal resources and expand tax bases of local governments," he told reporters. Han said authorities would also study ways to tweak the taxation system so that it is better positioned to develop new forms of businesses. When asked how the nation would handle the slowdown in the real estate sector while supporting new economic growth drivers, Han explained that there are major changes in the property market's supply and demand and that it is undergoing a period of adjustment. He said the nation needs to uphold the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability. "We need to promote stable and healthy development in the real estate market. Recently there have been some positive changes in the real estate market.  "We need to make progress in both absorbing the existing stock and improving new supplies, further implement and improve the new policies for real estate development, ensure the delivery of housing projects and activate the stock of residential properties and land resources." Han also said China should speed up the issuance and use of special treasury bonds, and that monetary policy should be flexible, moderate, accurate and effective. (Additional reporting by Reuters)