Interview: China confident of meeting 2020 fiscal targets

BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- China is confident of achieving all fiscal targets and tasks set for this year, Finance Minister Liu Kun said in an interview with Xinhua.

The country's economic fundamentals remain unchanged and its economy is steadily recovering, he said.

The ministry will work hard to ensure stability on six fronts and security in six areas, and pursue a more proactive and impactful fiscal policy to achieve high-quality development, Liu said.

The six fronts are employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and expectations. The six areas refer to job security, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments.

China's economy has picked up since the second quarter, with production demand recovering and key economic indicators improving, Liu said.

The latest fiscal revenue data also added to positive signs toward a stronger recovery. The country's fiscal revenue growth swung back to positive in June, registering a 3.2-percent increase year on year.

TAX CUTS

China has been pushing for tax and fee cuts to help businesses overcome hardships caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and weak external demand.

A slew of measures have been introduced, including reducing or canceling value-added tax for small-scale taxpayers and deferring their payment of corporate income taxes, among others.

"These measures have played a crucial role in stabilizing market entities, employment and public wellbeing, as well as economic fundamentals," Liu said, adding that the measures may help businesses save an additional more than 2.5 trillion yuan (about 360.23 billion U.S. dollars) throughout the year.

In the face of coronavirus-induced economic challenges, the country decided to issue 3.75 trillion yuan in special local government bonds this year.

Finance authorities will make good use of the special bonds and guard against systemic risks, Liu said.

As an extraordinary measure for an unusual time, the country promised to issue 1 trillion yuan in government bonds for COVID-19 control this year, according to the annual government work report released in May.

As of July 30, all the government bonds for COVID-19 control had been issued, Liu said, while pledging strict supervision over the use of the funds to ensure they will not be withheld or diverted for non-designated uses. Enditem