China urges local governments to give cash handouts for New Year

Bloomberg News on Dec 28, 2024

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

China’s central government urged local authorities to offer handouts to people struggling with the cost of living, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing a notice from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Municipalities with the means are encouraged to provide financial aid ahead of the New Year and the Lunar New Year festival in late January, state-owned Xinhua reported on Saturday. For maximum impact, local government agencies should set up systems to temporarily subsidize prices and link social assistance with price levels, according to the report.

The announcement marks the latest in a series of official steps to stoke private consumption, which is seen as crucial for repairing the economy. With U.S. tariffs potentially looming, China has signaled more public borrowing and spending with a shift of policy focus to consumption in 2025.

While official cash subsidies around festivals like the Lunar New Year are common, the government took the unusual step of distributing funds ahead of the Oct. 1 National Day Holiday. That decision was seen as a bid to boost private expenditure.

In China, some 40 million people received subsidies designed to guarantee a minimum standard of living, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs as of June. Another 4.74 million people were deemed to be in “extreme poverty."