China to Continue Proactive Fiscal Policy in H2

HEFEI, July 28 -- China will continue its proactive fiscal policy in the second half of the year, focusing on speeding up economic restructuring, Finance Minister Xie Xuren said Tuesday.

Xie made the statement at a conference in Hefei, Anhui province. The conference aimed to outline plans for the country's financial work in the second half of the year.

He asked local authorities to give more attention to quickening the pace of economic restructuring and improve product quality and industrial efficiency.

The country would improve its macro-regulation policies according to changes in domestic and international economies, making the policies more flexible and targeted, Xie said.

China would continue efforts to boost domestic demand, especially consumption, in the second half, he said, urging better implementation of the minimum wage system and programs such as the subsidized home appliance purchase scheme in rural areas and auto replacement policy.

He also demanded continuous financial support for agricultural production, technological innovation and energy saving, emission cutting projects as well as  disaster relief, among others.

China's fiscal revenue rose 27.6 percent year-on-year in the first six months of this year to 4.33 trillion yuan ($640.32 billion), the ministry said. Fiscal expenditure for the first half increased 17 percent to 3.38 trillion yuan.

In 2008, China shifted its fiscal policy from a "prudent" to a "proactive" stance and eased monetary policy from "tight" to "moderately loose," to counter the global financial crisis.