07/15/2012 | 09:26pm US/Eastern
BEIJING–Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned that the country’s economic rebound is not yet stable and the economic hardship may continue for a period, Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
During an inspection tour of southwest China’s Sichuan province from Friday to Sunday, Wen called for greater efforts to strengthen the vitality and dynamism of economic growth, Xinhua reported.
“The economic growth rate is still within the government target range set early this year, and stabilization policies are working,” Xinhua quoted Wen as saying.
Wen also said the economy is running at a slower but more stable pace.
China’s economic fundamentals remain sound and the country still has huge growth potential, Wen said, citing a bumper summer grain harvest, continued decline in consumer inflation and increases in personal incomes.
China’s gross domestic product rose by 7.6% in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from the first quarter’s 8.1%, marking it the slowest growth since the first quarter of 2009, government data released Friday showed. Beijing earlier this year set the full-year GDP growth target at 7.5%.
Wen said the government needs to provide financial aid and tax breaks to companies suffering from slowing export growth.
In the second half of this year, the government will increase its efforts to fine-tune its policies and make policies more effective, targeted and foresighted, Wen said.
Write to Zhoudong Shangguan at zhoudong.shangguan@dowjones.com
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