Tax reduction, spending boost needed to ease pressure, experts say

Greater efforts to lower taxes and boost infrastructure spending are needed to alleviate downward pressure in the year ahead, according to analysts and economists.

Amid mounting external uncertainties, policies should be adjusted at a time when economic key drivers are cooling down, they said.

Some policy maneuvering, including improving efforts to boost infrastructure and reducing taxes, should be implemented as early as possible, said Robin Xing, chief economist with Morgan Stanley, during a forum held by Atom Think Tank held earlier last week.

As part of broader efforts to curb future decline of infrastructural growth, the government is considering setting special bonds issuance ahead of scheduled time, he said.

This represents the government's strong intention to accelerate the issuance of special-purpose bonds by local governments to stabilize investment, expand domestic demand and strengthen areas of weakness, he added.

The issuance of special bonds is a funding measure introduced in 2017 to boost fixed-asset investment and ease funding pressure to help make debt burdens more transparent.

Future polices should tilt toward lowering tax burden of enterprises — they need more tax cut measures to lower their costs, according to Gao Peiyong, a senior researcher with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.