Chinese Premier vows to support SMEs and improve people's livelihood

Instead of undertaking large-scale infrastructure projects for economic recovery, the country will mainly boost consumption to lead the economic rebound, said China's Premier Li Keqiang.

To boost consumption, China will secure employment, improve people's livelihood, and provide vital relief to boost the market vitality. Seventy percent of the government bonds raised for COVID-19 will be used to spur consumption and energize the market.

Premier Li said this when answering questions from domestic and international media after the conclusion of the third plenary session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on Thursday.

Premier Li said that since the coronavirus outbreak is a challenge we have never encountered before, so the government doesn't have any experience to rely on, and have to be creative.

Premier Li stressed that the fiscal bonds government raised have to be used to support the primary level of governments and improve people's lives. To ensure that, the government has set up a new transfer payment mechanism.

The money will go directly to the primary level of government, then transferred to companies, especially SMEs, to social security, unemployment insurance, and pension fund, said Li.

" Real name will be recorded, no cooking the book will be allowed," Li stressed.

To make sure the local governments and companies have enough relief they needed, Premier Li also stressed that the central government would set an example and live on a tight budget, cutting non-essential expenditure, reject spending splurges.