After the close of the NPC and CPPCC sessions recently, local governments have been escalating their efforts in "maintaining 8% growth". Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing - the four municipalities directly under the central government - are striving to stay ahead in the race. However, compared with the wave of investment in local infrastructural construction triggered by the "Rmb4 trillion stimulus package", the focus of the current "escalation" has shifted to "safeguarding people's livelihood", with the emphasis of local economic stimulation policies placed on promoting employment and stabilising enterprises.
Beijing: Rmb3 billion to create jobs
Employment and protection are the buzzwords in Beijing's new economic policies. In order to promote employment, the enterprises have to be protected in the first place. The Beijing industry and commerce administration department has issued 22 measures aimed at helping foreign enterprises. These include advance approval for major projects of foreign enterprises and allowing foreign enterprises to contribute their investment capital in the form of equity right. Since March, the new economic policies announced by Beijing have also contained provisions on helping industrial enterprises that are in difficulty.
The Beijing municipal government has also decided to spend Rmb3 billion on expanding the job market. Starting from 1 April, enterprises in difficulty which meet certain requirements may apply to the social security department for three items of government subsidy aimed at stabilising employment. The three items are job post subsidy, social insurance subsidy, and training subsidy. Meanwhile, an employment/unemployment management system for the urban and rural areas has been set up to help 60,000 labourers in the rural areas of Beijing city to change jobs.
Shanghai: Twin-centre construction
The building of Shanghai into a "twin-centre" continues to act as an important drive in the municipality's steady development. After the Standing Committee of the State Council approved in principle the proposal for developing Shanghai into an international financial centre and an international shipping centre on 25 March 2009, related investment plans are expected to be mapped out soon. Apart from expediting the pace of exploring the possibility of establishing an international shipping development experimental zone at Yangshan Port, Shanghai will also offer preferential tax policies to attract talent, capital and goods flow.
Moreover, new measures safeguarding people's livelihood have been introduced one after another. On 1 April, the Shanghai municipal human resources and social security bureau announced that the ceiling of unemployment insurance payment has been adjusted to Rmb600 a month, up Rmb50 from the original standard, while the minimum has been revised to Rmb435 a month, up Rmb25 from the original standard.
Tianjin: Invest Rmb771.4 billion to keep pace with Beijing and Shanghai
Tianjin, which has always benchmarked itself against Beijing and Shanghai, plans to raise the urbanisation rate of its rural areas to 58% within this year, allowing 180,000 peasants to go into the city in a move to stimulate domestic demand. In an effort to make its small towns construction more scientific and rational, formulation of the Plan for Tianjin's New Rural Area Construction is scheduled for completion within this year.
Initially, Tianjin confirms that there will be 77 key construction projects in 2009, with total investment reaching Rmb771.4 billion, of which Rmb160.3 billion will be invested this year.
According to the Tianjin development and reform committee, in 2009 Tianjin will increase its input in the following: priority industries, infrastructure facilities and large-scale transportation system construction in the Binhai New Area, proprietary innovation, circular economy, new village construction, and social undertakings. Meanwhile, key development directions will cover: priority industries such as chemicals and metallurgy; equipment manufacturing industry such as aviation, aeronautics and shipbuilding; new and high-tech industries such as new energy; construction of large-scale transportation systems such as seaports, airports, highways, and railways; agriculture, forestry and water conservancy; construction of model small towns; as well as service industries such as commerce and trade, modern logistics, leisure and tourism.
Chongqing: Catching up by investing Rmb500 billion
In 2009, the key projects in Chongqing comprise "100 government-led key construction projects", "100 market-oriented key construction projects", "100 major preliminary projects", and "100 major investment projects". Among these, there are 168 government-led key construction projects with an estimated total investment of Rmb105 billion. They mainly cover transportation, energy, urban construction, industrial park infrastructure, energy saving, emission reduction, ecological construction, water conservancy, social and community, and science and technology projects. There are 110 major preliminary projects with total investment amounting to over Rmb400 billion. These projects are meant to lay the groundwork for a number of major projects scheduled for commencement in 2010.
Meanwhile, in order to achieve targets of 12% growth in GDP and 16-18% growth in industry, Chongqing will inject Rmb160 billion into revitalising its industry and increasing subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises to create 100,000 job opportunities.
