In comments that do seem to clash with the news that there are going to be millions of jobs lost (see these earlier:
- China expects to lay off 1.8 mln workers in coal, steel sectors
- China will be looking to axe 5-6 million state workers over the next few years
)
Xiao Yaqing, the chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said over the weekend that China "won't experience a wave of layoffs" as seen in the late 1990s.
- China plans to cut overcapacity in its state-owned enterprises sector
- Says reform is has two components: cut overcapacity in some industries & grow others (eg. aerospace, nuclear power, high speed rail and others)
Its a difficult process the administration is undertaking, with tension between reform and keeping labour markets calm. The noises we've been getting from the National people's Congress this time around have been tending towards stability over reform - yes there will be reform but it will be slower than otherwise.
Xiao Yaqing added some blunt comments on 'panic':
"The economic slowdown is within expectations, but what has exceeded our expectations is the panic. Panic is more frightful than the downturn -- it may worsen the downturn."
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Earlier in the weekend we had these from China:
- PBOC Zhou weekend comments: China growth target can be hit without overly easing
- China industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment data out now
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Added:
More on Xiao Yaqing at the Wall Street Journal (may be gated) and Bloomberg (not gated)
