China to continue proactive fiscal policy in H2

BEIJING -- China will step up its implementation of a proactive fiscal policy in the second half of 2022, a report from the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the year, the country has rolled out a slew of measures, including the combination of tax and fee cuts and ensuring fiscal expenditure, to secure people's livelihoods and stabilize the macroeconomy, the report said.

In the first half of the year, tax refunds totaling 1.85 trillion yuan ($268.89 billion) were returned to taxpayers, and the re-guarantee business of the national financing guarantee fund hit 596.2 billion yuan, an increase of 85 percent year-on-year, the report said.

A total of 23,800 construction projects were supported by local government bonds in the first half, according to the report.

It said that China will continue to implement its combination of tax and fee cuts, and urge localities to roll out supporting measures to ease the burden on market entities.

The country will better utilize local government bonds and enhance coordination between fiscal and monetary policies as well as the implementation of policy-based and developmental financial instruments to advance investment, employment and consumption, the report said.