May 20, 2024 01:04 GMT
MNI China Press Digest May 20: Tourism, Fiscal, Finance
MNI (BEIJING)
BEIJING (MNI)
MNI picks key stories from today's China press
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Highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:
- Chinese provinces have issued over CNY100 million of consumer coupons to boost tourism in recent weeks, alongside a series of discounts offered by scenic spots, restaurants and hotels, Caixin reported citing the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The per capita expenditure during the May Day holiday earlier this month represented only three-quarters of the pre-pandemic level, even though the number of trips and total consumption increased by 28.2% and 13.5% over the same period before the Covid-19 pandemic, Caixin added.
- Authorities should reform China’s central-to-local fiscal transfer payment system to account for the country’s floating population of 400 million workers to ensure large cities have the funds to provide basic public services such as education, according to Zhang Licheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, speaking at a recent fiscal forum. Xu Hangmin, secretary-general of the Guangdong Finance Society, said local areas currently receive funds in proportion to their fiscal gap, making the system into a reverse incentive that needs correction. The government should strengthen fund monitoring and compliance to avoid unreasonable fiscal gaps, Xu added.
- China should address excessive value added in the financial sector to reduce financing costs for the real economy, said Li Yang, chairman of the National Finance and Development Laboratory. The manufacturing sector suffers from low profits, making it unreasonable for the financial industry to still make high amounts of money, Li added. Authorities need to reform finance to support SMEs and poverty alleviation, with a focus on medical and elderly care, Li continued. (Source: Yicai)
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