Minister of Finance Lan Foan: Optimizing fiscal and financial coordination to promote domestic demand policies, expand the scope of interest rate discounts, and issue 300 billion yuan of special treasury bonds
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 1, Minister of Finance Lan Foan published an article in “Qiushi” magazine saying that this year is the beginning of the “15th Five-Year Plan”, and that doing a good job in the next few months is essential to complete the goals and tasks for the whole year and achieve a good start. More attention is being paid to expanding effective domestic demand and maintaining the smooth operation of the economy. Reasonably speed up the spending process, strengthen supervision and guidance for regions where spending is slow, and clear up blockages, so that precious financial resources can be disbursed early and results can be achieved as soon as possible. Coordinate and make good use of funds such as ultra-long-term special treasury bonds and local government special bonds, and solidly push forward the “six-page network” and “dual” construction. Optimize the implementation of fiscal and financial coordination policies to promote domestic demand, expand the scope of interest rate discounts, increase management agencies, raise quotas appropriately, better release consumption potential, and leverage private investment. The issuance of 300 billion yuan of special treasury bonds supports relevant central financial enterprises to supplement their core tier 1 capital and consolidate and enhance their ability to operate steadily and serve the real economy. Research and introduce incremental policies such as arranging the use of local government debt balance limits to improve local general public budget security capabilities and support the expansion of effective investment.
The original text is as follows:
Lan Foan: Implementing More Active Fiscal Policies Precisely and Effectively
Implementing a more active fiscal policy is an important step for the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, to deeply grasp the rules of China's economic operation and changes in the domestic and foreign environment, and coordinate current and long-term development and security arrangements. The Politburo meeting of the Central Committee held on July 30 this year further emphasized the need to implement a more active fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy, give full play to the effectiveness of various stock policies, and plan and introduce pragmatic and effective incremental policies in a timely manner. The financial department thoroughly implements the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, implements fiscal policies, continuously improves accuracy and effectiveness, and makes every effort to achieve economic and social development goals throughout the year.
1. Promote the continuous development of the economy in a new, better and better way through more active fiscal policies
Finance is the foundation and important pillar of national governance. As an important means of macro-control, fiscal policy has the dual advantage of expanding aggregate demand and targeted adjustment structures. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, China's fiscal policy has always maintained a positive orientation, adjusted and improved in due course according to changes in the situation, continuously enhanced its adaptability to economic operations, and strongly supported the steady and healthy development of the economy. Since this year, in the face of difficult challenges brought about by the complex environment at home and abroad, the financial department has resolutely implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, firmly grasped the priority of high-quality development, solidly implemented a more active fiscal policy, focused on stabilizing employment, stabilizing enterprises, stabilizing markets, and stabilizing expectations, and focusing on promoting effective qualitative and quantitative growth in the economy.
Consolidate the stable, moderate and positive foundation of the economy, reach new heights in policy strength, and push the economy to operate within a reasonable range. Strengthen the coordination of financial resources and strive to expand the spending table. This year, the general public budget expenditure schedule exceeded 30 trillion yuan, and the amount of new government bonds added reached 11.89 trillion yuan. The implementation of the policy is stepping up ahead, and the sooner the budget is issued, the faster it is to ensure early implementation and early results. From January to August, the central government's general public budget expenditure increased 6% year-on-year. Adhere to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, solidly push forward the “dual” construction and “two new” tasks, steadily expand the scope of the “self-examination and spontaneous” pilot for special bonds, introduce and implement a package of policies to promote domestic demand through fiscal and financial coordination, further open up room for fiscal policy development, promote consumer consumption and expand effective investment. With the release of the role of fiscal policy and other macroeconomic policies, China's economy grew 4.7% year on year in the first half of the year, and the growth rate continues to rank among the world's major economies.
Accelerate the transformation of old and new kinetic energy, focus more on expenditure direction, and promote new economic momentum and structural improvement. This year, the central government's science and technology expenditure budget increased by 10% compared to the previous year. Among them, the basic research budget increased 16.3%, strengthening the funding guarantee for original innovation and key core technology research. This year, China issued 200 billion yuan of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support equipment upgrades for about 11,000 projects in 22 fields and promote the upgrading of key industries. Coordinate and make good use of policy tools such as special funds, loan interest rates, government investment funds, etc., to thoroughly implement new technological transformation city pilot projects in the manufacturing industry, and “specialized, special and new” reward policies for small and medium-sized enterprises to accelerate the digital transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry and the cultivation and expansion of emerging industries. The value added of high-tech manufacturing above scale increased 16.7% year-on-year in August, and new momentum showed an accelerated growth trend.
In order to accelerate self-reliance and self-improvement in high-level science and technology, the central government's science and technology expenditure budget this year increased by 10% over the previous year. Among them, the basic research budget increased 16.3%, which strongly strengthened the funding guarantee for original innovation and key core technology research. On September 20, 2026, the Advanced Light Source Linear Accelerator located in the Future Science City of Hefei, Anhui was successfully launched, marking a key step in the construction of this major national science and technology infrastructure project. The picture shows an advanced lighting source in Hefei under construction taken on September 16, 2026. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mu/photo
Responding to the urgent concerns of the masses, policy orientation highlights people's livelihood, and places more emphasis on investing in people. Adhere to the importance of people's livelihood, and continue to strengthen investment guarantees in employment, education, and old-age care. The central financial administration has issued 66.7 billion yuan in employment subsidy funds this year to strengthen employment assistance for disadvantaged groups such as the disabled and family members with zero employment, and to promote employment for key groups such as university graduates. Optimize the allocation of financial education funds, promote structural adjustments in the layout of education resources, expand the supply of general high school degrees and the scale of enrollment in high-quality undergraduate education, and better adapt to changes in the school-age population structure. Take good care of the “one old, one young” service guarantee, and fully implement the childcare allowance system. This year, 99.9 billion yuan of subsidy funds were issued, an increase of 10.6% over the previous year; free preschool education has been steadily implemented, and consumption subsidies for elderly people with moderate or above disabilities have been distributed. The central government's rapid disbursement mechanism for disaster relief funds was promptly initiated to respond effectively to various natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, floods, landslides, and mudslides in some regions, and make every effort to guarantee the basic livelihood of the affected people.
Efforts will be made to break down institutional and institutional barriers that restrict high-quality development, continue to deepen key reforms, and expand the effectiveness of fiscal policies by improving the level of financial management. The focus is on promoting the construction of a unified national market, establishing and implementing a negative list management mechanism for local financial subsidies, cleaning up and standardizing preferential tax policies, optimizing and improving export tax rebate policies, and promoting healthy industrial competition. Focus on creating a fair tax environment, strengthening the reporting of tax-related information for Internet platform enterprises, improving tax policies for new energy vehicles, introducing personal income tax policies for offshore trusts, abolishing the dividend tax exemption policy for foreign individuals, and launching a pilot environmental protection tax levy on volatile organic compounds. Focus on optimizing the allocation of financial resources, organize 12 provinces to continue to deepen scientific financial management pilot projects, further push forward zero-based budget reform, and require financial resources for management and efficiency for expenditure. The focus is on better mobilizing local enthusiasm for high-quality development, further promoting the construction of local tax systems, carrying out pilot projects for the integrated and integrated use of transfer funds, enhancing local independent financial resources and coordination capabilities, and using more funds to maintain operation and seek development according to local conditions.
Secure the bottom line of safety, steadily advance risk mitigation, and further enhance fiscal sustainability. Supervise and guide all regions to make good use of centralized debt support policies, speed up the resolution of existing hidden debts, and solidly push forward the withdrawal of financing platforms and reform and transformation. By the end of August this year, 6 trillion yuan of replacement bonds had been issued at 5.8 trillion yuan, and the size of hidden debt stocks of local governments and the number of financing platforms continued to decline. Resolutely curb illegal new hidden debts as an iron discipline, optimize and improve full-caliber local debt monitoring mechanisms, deepen cross-departmental information sharing and regulatory collaboration, and strictly investigate, punish, and seriously hold accountable acts such as new hidden debts and false debts. At the same time, special bonds of a certain size are issued to support local governments to clear up arrears of corporate accounts.
II. Deepen understanding of the regularity of financial macro-control in improving macroeconomic governance
Currently, 100 years of changes in the world are accelerating, breakthroughs are being accelerated in a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, international competition is becoming more complex and intense, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, the global industrial chain supply chain is being restructured at an accelerated pace, and the momentum for world economic growth is insufficient. At the same time, China is in a critical period of basic socialist modernization. The industrial structure, business model, population structure, etc. have been profoundly adjusted, and the environment and conditions facing economic development and macroeconomic governance are undergoing profound changes, placing higher demands on the accuracy, synergy, and effectiveness of fiscal policies. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, the financial department thoroughly studied and detailed Xi Jinping's economic ideas, especially the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important remarks on financial work, deeply grasped the Party Central Committee's financial management ideas and strategic methods, continuously deepened its understanding of the regularity of financial macro-control, insisted on using systematic concepts to design and plan fiscal policies, strengthen cooperation with monetary, industrial, regional and other policies, and promote more active fiscal policies to achieve results.
Better coordinate an effective market and promising government, and identify the starting points of fiscal policy. To make a difference, financial arrangements focus on important areas relating to long-term economic and social development, such as ecological and environmental protection, agriculture and rural areas, etc., and focus on making up for market failures; whether to do something or not, try to regulate government economic promotion actions such as financial subsidies and tax incentives, minimize direct allocation of resources and direct intervention with micro actors, and focus on giving full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation to ensure the “effectiveness” of fiscal policy, and promote the “effectiveness” and “management” of the market mechanism A “good” economy Order.
Improve growth and revitalize stocks in a better integrated manner, drive growth in revitalizing stocks, consolidate stocks in improving incremental growth, and comprehensively improve the efficiency of financial resource allocation. The focus is on combining incremental capital with existing capital, using zero-based budget reform as a starting point, vigorously reducing inefficient and ineffective spending, and focusing more on major national strategies and basic livelihood areas. Focus on combining asset and liability management, comprehensively taking stock of government debt to form assets, promoting the integration and coordination of management and operation, disposal and transfer, and revenue payment, and making an organic link with debt repayment. The focus is on combining incremental policies with inventory policies, not only to implement inventory policies and keep pace with the times, optimize and improve, but also to choose to introduce incremental policies in a timely manner to push stock policies and incremental policies to work in the same direction and form joint efforts.
To better coordinate policy support and reform and innovation, it is necessary not only to increase the supply of policies, but also to not lose the opportunity to deepen reforms, so that the combination of reforms and policies can amplify the effects. On the one hand, build on the present, use policies to increase countercyclical adjustments, maintain a reasonable deficit and expenditure scale, and make good use of policy tools such as treasury bonds, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, and special bonds to reduce short-term economic fluctuations. On the other hand, focus on the long term, strengthen development momentum through reforms, promote fiscal and taxation system reform and scientific financial management in an integrated manner, focus on breaking down the sticking points and blockages that limit high-quality development and the role of fiscal functions, and create favorable conditions for better release of policy effectiveness.
Better coordinate fiscal efforts and coordination, strengthen coordination and coordination with other fiscal and monetary policies, and give full play to the guiding role of financial resources. Innovate and launch a package of policies to promote domestic demand through fiscal and financial collaboration, using a combination of loan interest rates, guarantee compensation, and premium subsidies, etc., to attract financial resources through financial resources, amplify the policy multiplier effect, and better stimulate private investment and promote residents' consumption. At the same time, we will work together to promote policy formulation and implementation and management of expectations, promote publicity and guidance throughout the entire process of policy formulation and implementation, focus on boosting market confidence and achieving policy effects that “meet expectations” or even “exceed expectations.”
At the beginning of this year, fiscal and financial collaboration introduced a package of policies to promote domestic demand, and the consumer goods trade-in policy was optimally implemented to effectively promote consumer consumption and expand effective investment. On September 19, 2026, Tongzhou District, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province held a special “Reinvigorating Tongzhou · Enjoying People's Livelihood” green home appliances trade-in special event to stimulate the vitality of green smart home appliance consumption. The picture shows that on the same day, customers were shopping for home appliances in an e-commerce store in Jinsha Street, Tongzhou District, Nantong City. People's Picture Zhai Huiyong/Photo
Promote the economy and improve people's livelihood in a better integrated manner, insist on safeguarding and improving people's livelihood in development, and expand development space in meeting people's livelihood needs. Organically combine economic development with improving people's livelihood, strengthen people's livelihood orientation when formulating and implementing fiscal policies, consider economic promotion effects, promote close integration of investment in goods and investment in people, benefit people's livelihood and promote consumption, better meet people's livelihood needs by promoting industrial upgrading and optimizing public services, and effectively unleash the potential of domestic demand through stabilizing employment, promoting income growth, and improving social security.
Promote development and prevent risks in a better integrated manner, not only actively promote development, but also maintain the bottom line and secure safety, and form high-quality development and a high level of safety and healthy interaction. Integrate risk awareness and bottom-line thinking throughout the financial work process, not only to scientifically and rationally arrange deficit, debt, and expenditure policies to form strong support for economic growth and structural optimization, but also to prevent and resolve the hidden debt risks of local governments, firmly secure the bottom line of the “Three Guarantees” at the grassroots level, and ensure the safety and sustainability of the finance itself. At the same time, support in key areas such as food, energy resources, and important industrial chain supply chains will be strengthened to consolidate the basic guarantee of national security.
3. Anchor economic and social development goals for the whole year and make every effort to implement key financial tasks
This year marks the beginning of the “15th Five-Year Plan”. Doing a good job in the next few months is essential to complete the goals and tasks for the whole year and achieve a good start. The financial department should unify ideas and actions into the Party Central Committee's scientific judgment and decision-making and deployment of the situation, adhere to the unification of problem orientation, goal orientation, and result orientation, effectively implement stock policies, study and formulate highly targeted incremental policies, promote more active fiscal policies to improve efficiency, and provide a strong guarantee for completing economic and social development goals throughout the year.
More attention is being paid to expanding effective domestic demand and maintaining the smooth operation of the economy. Reasonably speed up the spending process, strengthen supervision and guidance for regions where spending is slow, and clear up blockages, so that precious financial resources can be disbursed early and results can be achieved as soon as possible. Coordinate and make good use of funds such as ultra-long-term special treasury bonds and local government special bonds, and solidly push forward the “six-page network” and “dual” construction. Optimize the implementation of fiscal and financial coordination policies to promote domestic demand, expand the scope of interest rate discounts, increase management agencies, raise quotas appropriately, better release consumption potential, and leverage private investment. The issuance of 300 billion yuan of special treasury bonds supports relevant central financial enterprises to supplement their core tier 1 capital and consolidate and enhance their ability to operate steadily and serve the real economy. Research and introduce incremental policies such as arranging the use of local government debt balance limits to improve local general public budget security capabilities and support the expansion of effective investment.
Pay more attention to technological empowerment and accelerate the conversion of old and new kinetic energy. Strengthen the management of financial science and technology funds, further focus on basic research and key core technology research, and promote self-reliance and self-improvement in high-level science and technology. Coordinate and make good use of policies such as the first (package), the first batch of insurance compensation, and government procurement of independent innovative products to accelerate the transformation and application promotion of scientific and technological achievements. Strengthen financial security and policy supply, promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and cultivate and expand emerging pillar industries and future industries. Implement and improve fiscal and taxation policies to promote the expansion, quality, and better development of the productive service industry and lifestyle service industry. Strengthen support for arable land protection, seed industry revitalization, agricultural technology, agricultural machinery and equipment, etc., promote high-standard farmland construction with high quality zoning and classification, and focus on improving comprehensive agricultural production capacity, quality and efficiency.
Pay more attention to people's livelihood security and improve the level of public services. Continue to strengthen capacity building for disaster prevention, mitigation and relief, disburse central disaster relief funds in a timely manner, and support resettlement, basic livelihood security, and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction for people affected by the disaster. Make good use of policies such as unemployment insurance, job stabilization benefits, and skill upgrading allowances, etc., improve the social security system, and implement policies such as raising basic pension bids for urban and rural residents to promote high-quality full employment and increase residents' income. Adapt to changes in population structure and mobility trends, promote the optimization of the layout of basic public services such as education, medical care, etc., so as to make it portable and portable, and better meet the expectations of the masses. Implement normalized and precise assistance, implement corresponding back-up guarantees and development-based support measures, and adhere to the bottom line that large-scale return to poverty does not occur.
More attention is being paid to promoting the smooth operation of grass-roots finance to prevent and resolve local government debt risks. Promote the backward movement of the consumption tax collection process and steady downgrading of local and local surtax reforms, etc., and support local expansion of tax sources. Firmly push forward pilot projects for the integrated and integrated use of transfer funds to give local authorities more autonomy and better meet actual needs. Local authorities are urged to strengthen treasury dispatch and operation monitoring to ensure that there are no problems with the “Three Guarantees”. Accelerate the resolution of existing hidden debts, seriously investigate and punish illegal acts such as adding hidden debts and falsifying debts, and consolidate the hard-won results of debt conversion. Promote the reform and transformation of local government financing platforms in an orderly manner, resolutely divest government financing functions, and strictly prohibit the establishment or alienation of new financing platforms.
Pay more attention to promoting scientific financial management and continuously improving the efficiency of the use of financial resources. Promote the development of scientific financial management from point to point and depth, and further improve the management system from horizontal to edge and vertical to the bottom. Strengthen the coordination of financial resources and budgets, guide local authorities to revitalize existing assets and resources in an orderly manner, and better concentrate financial resources on major issues. Continue to deepen zero-based budget reform, further expand the scope of pilot projects by central departments, guide local authorities to further explore, and promote the establishment of a budget allocation mechanism with pressure, increase or decrease, and dynamic adjustment. Improve the budget performance management mechanism throughout the process, comprehensively strengthen pre-performance evaluation, in-event performance monitoring, and ex post facto performance evaluation, and continuously improve the efficiency of financial expenditure. Strictly implement the requirements of the Party and government organs to get used to a tight lifestyle, and execute the budget in China and province, strictly and strictly manage overseas (overseas) on official business, domestic inspection and exchange, official reception, conference training, etc., so as to effectively reduce administrative operating costs and put an end to the phenomenon of extravagance and waste. Deeply carry out a three-year campaign to improve the quality and efficiency of financial supervision, and seriously investigate and punish acts that violate financial laws.
This article was compiled from the official website of the Ministry of Finance; Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Siyu.