China opened its delayed National People's Congress on 22 May with a government work report that set no annual growth target for 2020, a break with decades of practice, citing great uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Beijing put the emphasis on jobs and economic stability, raising the budget deficit target and announcing large bond programmes to fund the recovery. The government planned 1 trillion yuan in special treasury bonds and 3.75 trillion yuan in local government special bonds, much of it aimed at infrastructure. Railway construction funding was raised by 100 billion yuan, and major transport and water projects were given priority. For steelmakers, the package pointed to firmer construction demand in the second half of the year, although officials stopped short of the kind of sweeping stimulus seen after the 2008 financial crisis.
Source: SEAISI — https://www.seaisi.org/details/698?type=news-rooms
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