CBN丨Policy supports to shore up foreign investors' confidence

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

Coming up on today’s program

China’s Annual Two Sessions 2025

Overseas financial institutions have expressed enthusiasm for the Chinese government's upcoming policies to expand domestic demand, promote consumption, and stabilize the real estate market.

Consumption and real estate were the two keywords during this year's Two Sessions. For consumption, the Government Work Report submitted by Premier Li Qiang during the Two Sessions proposed vigorously boosting consumption, improving investment efficiency, and expanding domestic demand. While for real estate, the report mentioned "stabilizing the property market" for the first time.

China will expand its trade-in subsidies to 300 billion yuan this year from 150 billion yuan last year, which is in line with UBS expectations, said Wang Tao, head of Asian economic research at the Swiss banking giant.

UBS has also paid attention to the Chinese government calling for supply-side policies to support consumption, such as easing market access and reducing restrictions, Wang said.

The key to stabilizing the property market will be designing and implementing effective real estate supporting policies, she added.

The Government Work Report mentioned the acquisition of unsold properties, pledging to give more autonomy to municipal governments in terms of purchase, prices, and use, which is expected to improve the efficiency of such policy compared with last year, according to KPMG.

In a rare move, the Government Work Report sets a consumer price index growth target of around 2 percent, marking the first inflation target below 3 percent in two decades.

"We are encouraged by the new 2 percent target on consumer inflation," said Xiong Yi, chief China economist at Deutsche Bank. "We think this means the government has moved away from the previous approach of setting an inflation ceiling toward a formal 2 percent inflation target, which demonstrates its commitment to preventing deflation."

Meng Lei, China equity strategist at UBS Securities, said investor confidence in the capital market is also recovering, driven by a comprehensive set of policy stimulus, a recovery in corporate earnings and the impact of artificial intelligence advancements such as DeepSeek.

He estimated the earnings growth of CSI 300 Index components to reach around 6 percent this year, which will further attract global investors' attention.

Greater Bay Area, Greater future

Voices of ASEAN

"In promoting economic growth, China has always advocated for progress while maintaining stability," recently stated Ong Tee Keat, former Malaysian Minister of Transport and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Belt and Road Coordination Council, in an exclusive interview with 21st Century Business Herald. Discussing China's 2025 economic growth target of around 5 percent, Ong highlighted the significance of China's "stabilizing foreign investment and foreign trade" strategy, noting that it provides confidence to global trade partners. He emphasized that China's economic stability serves as a driving force for boosting regional and global economies.

As China's largest trading partner and a key destination for Chinese investment, ASEAN has deepened economic ties with China. By July 2024, two-way investment between China and ASEAN exceeded USD400 billion, with China ranking as ASEAN's second-largest foreign investor. Ong stressed that ASEAN countries hope Chinese enterprises will not only expand overseas markets but also collaborate with local tech firms to enhance regional R&D capabilities, which could facilitate the global adoption of Chinese technological standards and "soft power." He identified digital and green economies as priorities for future China-ASEAN cooperation.

Marking the third anniversary of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), Ong proposed leveraging China's mature production capacity to establish localized manufacturing in RCEP member states under China’s smart manufacturing model. This approach, he argued, would reshape global supply chains, utilizing China's industrial strengths to empower Belt and Road/RCEP partners to develop self-reliant R&D capabilities.

Next on industry and company news

Switching gears to financial news

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC

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