Chinese Leader Calls for Strong Moves to Offset Slowdown

Source: NY Times

Premier Wen Jiabao of China warned on Sunday of “huge downward pressure” on the Chinese economy, in the clearest expression yet of concern at the top of the country’s leadership about a sharp slowdown in recent months.

During a weekend inspection tour of east-central China, Mr. Wen called for the government to “preset and fine-tune its policies in a more aggressive manner,” using fiscal and monetary tools to offset the economic slowdown as much as possible. But he also tried to reassure the public, saying the economy was “running at a generally stable pace,” said Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

Mr. Wen largely attributed the slowdown to weak demand from overseas, particularly Europe with its faltering economies. But in separate remarks on Saturday, he reaffirmed a government policy of making real estate prices more affordable by banning real estate speculation.

That policy has played a central role in China’s economic slowdown, as housing construction has slowed to a crawl except for low-income housing. Developers across the country have laid off huge numbers of workers as construction sites from the steamy factory cities of Guangdong in the southeast to manufacturing and logistics hubs like Xi’an in the northwest have cut back this year from three shifts working around the clock, seven days a week, to one day shift on weekdays.

via Chinese Leader Calls for Strong Moves to Offset Slowdown – Democratic Underground.