State Council stresses 'six priorities'

Facing "unprecedented challenges this year", the government needs to ensure its "six priorities" are met, the State Council was told at an executive meeting held on May 13.

The six priorities are safeguarding employment, people's livelihoods, the development of market entities, food, and energy security, the stable operation of industrial and supply chains, and the smooth functioning of society.

The meeting was told priorities were set to tackle outstanding risks, and the government shoulders great responsibility in that regard, a statement issued by the State Council said.

The government must carry out the priorities to stabilize employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign and domestic investment, and expectations, the meeting was told.

The priorities are the bottom lines for stable economic fundamentals, and by sticking to those parameters, the country will gain time to tackle the challenges and strengthen the foundation for a moderately prosperous society in an all-around way, it was told.

As a result, the government should step up macroeconomic regulation, give full play to the synergy of fiscal, monetary, social security, and employment policies, and adopt more targeted regulatory measures.

It should strengthen reform and opening-up, respect innovation at the grassroots level, and do more to improve basic systems to stimulate more vitality in market entities and more innovation in society.

The meeting was also told that efforts should be made to further opening-up to stabilize the supply chain and increase the economy's resilience and potential.

Financial support guideline for Bay Area

A financial support guideline for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been issued, the central bank said May 14.

The guideline was jointly issued by the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Promoting the development of the Bay Area is a major strategic decision made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, and it is expected to have a significant and far-reaching impact on China's reform and opening-up, the central bank said in a statement.

The guideline put forward 26 specific measures in five areas: promoting the Bay Area's cross-border trade and facilitating investment and financing, expanding the opening-up of the financial sector, promoting the connectivity of financial markets and financial infrastructure, boosting innovation in the Bay Area's financial services, and preventing cross-border financial risks.

The guideline is expected to help further promote financial opening-up and innovation, deepen the Chinese mainland's financial cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, enhance the role of the Bay Area in supporting and leading the country's economic development and opening-up, and provide strong financial support for building a dynamic and internationally competitive first-class bay area and a world-class city cluster, the central bank said.

Chinese authorities unveiled the outline development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in February last year, aiming to develop the region into a role model of high-quality development.

The Bay Area consists of Hong Kong, Macao, and nine cities in Guangdong－Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.