I posted on this on Monday, news out of China’s National Development and Reform Commission
A little more on this now:
- NDRC said it would set up a bureau to coordinate policies across different government bodies and help development of the private economy
- new bureau will be tasked with monitoring the country’s private economy and establishing channels for regular communication with private enterprises
The Wall Street Journal (gated) notes that:
- the new department announced Monday won’t hold a vice-ministerial rank, suggesting it is unlikely to be a policy heavyweight in a vast government bureaucracy that has long favored the country’s powerful state-owned enterprises
- It is unclear whether the bureau will be able to influence the agendas of other government bodies, as they have different priorities, said Zerlina Zeng, a senior research analyst of Chinese corporate debt at CreditSights.
- On its own, the new bureau “is far from enough to bring back the animal spirit,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie Group. “Policymakers have to take concrete actions on two fronts: sending out stronger signals to private companies and making China’s post-Covid recovery stronger and more sustainable”