What’s new: There is still “a lot of room” for China’s financial sector to sacrifice profits for the sake of the real economy, a legislature statement released Wednesday cited unnamed lawmakers as saying.
The sector contributed 9.68 trillion yuan ($1.44 trillion), or almost 8%, to China’s GDP last year, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
This percentage is above the average of 4.8% and 3.8% among countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and of the European Union, respectively, the lawmakers said.
The statement by the National People’s Congress is a summary of lawmakers’ comments on the central government’s financial work report presented last month.
The background: In recent years, the government has called for financial institutions to sacrifice profits for the sake of the real economy, including by cutting fees and lowering interest rates on loans to businesses and individuals.
Read more Opinion: Five Takeaways From China’s Central Financial Work Conference
Contact reporter Qing Na (qingna@caixin.com) editors Lin Jinbing (jinbinglin@caixin.com) and Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.
