[Epoch Times, July 17, 2021](Interviewed by The Epoch Times reporters Luo Ya and Li Yun) The Chinese economy seems to be in big trouble. Li Keqiang said at an executive meeting of the State Council of the Communist Party of China a few days ago that he found clues to violations of discipline and law, such as illegal reselling of bulk commodities and tax evasion. However, it is questioned that those who can resell bulk commodities are the powerful class. Can Li Keqiang find out?
The Chinese Communist Government website issued a press release on Thursday (July 15) stating that Li Keqiang said at the State Council executive meeting on the 14th that in response to the central budget implementation and other fiscal revenue and expenditure audits, he found major illegal issues such as illegal reselling of bulk commodities and tax evasion. Clues, these issues have disrupted the market environment and violated the CCP’s statutory taxation basis.
The report also said that Li Keqiang slapped the table angrily and said: The State Council has set up a special investigation team, no matter what unit or level is involved, it must be investigated to the end and held accountable, the punishment that should be imposed, the handling of the punishment, the arrest of the arrest, Never tolerate, never be merciless. We must severely crack down on those who violate the laws and regulations maliciously. The typical cases should be publicly exposed.
In this regard, the mainland Internet writer Mr. Chen said that Li Keqiang patted the table to speak, indicating that he was already very angry.
Mr. Chen said, “I think the central finance is very tight. He may want to use this method to improve it. Because of the unfair competition caused by the monopoly of privileges in the Chinese economic system, this bureaucratic monopoly has caused high profits and plundered the people. This Under this circumstance, these monopolies are controlled by the princelings of various factions. Can Li Keqiang be able to find out? I have always suspected that if you are going to touch their cakes, what will they do? There are also losses caused by some state-owned enterprises, which he can find out. ?”
Li Keqiang’s role at the top is weakened
According to public reports, under the CCP system, Li Keqiang seems to have been unsatisfactory since taking office, his role has been significantly weakened, and Li Xi’s different tunes seem to have come to the fore. For example, Li Keqiang’s statement last year that China’s 600 million people had a monthly income of only 1,000 yuan during the two sessions was considered to have pierced the huge bubble of Xi Jinping’s “comprehensive well-off”.
The “market economy” that Li Keqiang later advocated to solve employment problems was also suddenly stopped. This was regarded by the outside world as the open battle between Xi and Li. Today, the official announcement of Li Keqiang’s anger is particularly noticeable.
“Government orders do not leave Zhongnanhai” Li Keqiang patted the table many times
In fact, shortly after Li Keqiang became prime minister in 2013, many foreign media reported that Li Keqiang’s Shanghai Free Trade Zone plan was continuously opposed by vested interest groups. At that time, Li Keqiang angrily shot at a closed-door meeting of the State Council. Table, lose your temper.
The Chinese Communist Party media has also reported on many occasions that since Li Keqiang took office, he has often become angry because of “political orders not going out of Zhongnanhai” and officials’ negligent administration. Once Li Keqiang got angry and hit the table with a teacup.
Regarding Li Keqiang’s angrily slapped the table this time, Li Hengqing, a scholar at the Washington Institute of Information and Strategy in the United States, reminded everyone that, first of all, there is a conceptual difference from the outside world.
First, Li Keqiang combined tax evasion and illegal reselling of bulk commodities. These two are actually not the same. The so-called illegal reselling of bulk commodities, such as production materials, refers to non-ferrous metals such as copper and aluminum some time ago.
Li Hengqing said that the production of raw materials has risen sharply. Li Keqiang believes that disrupting market order can only happen in dictatorships like China. Because you think that commodity trading is normal, if you are in a purely free market environment, “this is not an illegal crime at all, there is no need to arrest people at all times, and of course it should not be compared with tax evasion.”
Li Hengqing said that tax evasion is a crime regardless of whether it is in any democratic country or that country. Li Keqiang specifically mentioned this at the State Council office meeting, and it was combined with the audit of the national government’s expenditure budget for 2022. It should be said, “This is a headache for Li Keqiang because the government is out of money.”
Commodities have risen all the way, China’s economic risks have risen sharply
Since 2021, bulk commodities such as copper and iron ore have risen all the way, rising by more than 20%. Especially in May, China’s steel prices approached 6,000 yuan per ton (RMB, the same below), breaking through the previous high in 2008 and setting a record high. In the face of rising steel prices, which hit downstream companies, a wave of factory shutdowns, production cuts, and wage cuts have been set off in various places, and inflationary doubts have been raised.
Li Keqiang convened several executive meetings of the State Council to “call” the price increase of bulk commodities, which brought adverse effects. And called for further increase in bulk commodity imports, warehousing and transportation to stabilize domestic prices.
Gary Hufbauer, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told VOA that China’s economic growth rate in 2021 may be reduced by 0.3% due to the drag of high commodity prices.
At the same time, the inflation of debt, restrictions on real estate financing, and the decline in demand for Chinese consumer goods following the recovery of foreign productivity will put pressure on the Chinese economy in the second half of the year.
Li Hengqing analyzed that if the government’s fiscal revenue was like before 2009 or 2015, it would be okay to say, because at that time, the so-called reform dividend, the economy has been growing at a high speed for a long time, so there has always been a very large taxation, and the government has With a lot of cash, the top CCP officials think that they have much money in their pockets, so they throw money at every turn.
Since 2013, the leaders of the Communist Party of China have frequently visited countries around the world, covering five continents around the world, and every time they visit, they will provide free assistance, exempt past debts, exempt interest on past debts, train college students for other countries for free, and build infrastructure for other countries for free. , Provide foreign aid in the form of interest-free loans.
For fear of causing strong dissatisfaction among the Chinese people, the CCP still dare not disclose statistics on foreign aid. According to Free Asia reports, in the first half of 2018 alone, the CCP provided 2.26 trillion yuan in low-interest or interest-free loans to foreign governments.
The mainland internet writer Mr. Chen analyzed, “If we want to improve China’s financial situation, we must first reduce the foreign aid and actually spend the money on the people in China. However, the authorities have been spreading money internationally, regardless of whether the people live or die. To use money to sell international hooligans in an attempt to challenge the United States is purely a group of traitors.”
China’s economy is in a dilemma under various factors
Li Hengqing said that in the past few years, especially after the Sino-U.S. trade war, coupled with the outbreak of the Chinese Communist Party virus (new crown virus), many places have suspended work and production. In particular, China has used strict prevention methods to prevent and control the epidemic, which is harmful to the economy. The impact is very large. So all of this has resulted in a state where the entire Chinese economy has been declining.
In the economic dilemma, Li Keqiang mentioned many times that the epidemic has brought an unprecedented impact on China’s economy, and that six guarantees and six stability must be achieved; and Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that while doing a good job in the “six stability”, implement the “six guarantees” “jobs.
Li Hengqing said, “The so-called six guarantees and three guarantees are all provided by money. But the government’s tax revenue cannot be collected, and now there are very big problems in the finances. Revenues are declining and expenditures are getting bigger and bigger, so this Under such circumstances, the audit of the fiscal budget and fiscal revenues and expenditures has made Li Keqiang very angry.”
In addition, Li Keqiang said that some problems were found in the audit report, not just violations, but also embezzlement and misappropriation of finances. But because of the recent fiscal revenue and expenditure, the pressure is now increasing, so the State Council should also be out of money.
According to public reports, China’s fiscal deficit surged by 30% in the first half of last year, and local debt surged by RMB 3.400 billion. Among the 31 provinces and cities, 30 provinces and cities all have the problem of income and expenditure, and many provinces have income and expenditure gaps of more than 250 billion yuan. The Ministry of Finance of the Communist Party of China announced that the national budget deficit in 2021 will be 3.57 trillion yuan.
With high fiscal debts in various parts of China, local governments have increased fiscal revenues by cutting bonuses and benefits for civil servants and teachers. Recently, civil servants and teachers in Henan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places in China have been pursued by the authorities for their bonuses and performance awards. This move caused great grievances in Chinese society.
Li Hengqing said, “Once the finances run out of money, then the police, the army, the police in the detention center, and if they fail to pay in the end, you think the government of this country will collapse. These people will no longer work for you. So now It should be said that China’s economy has reached a time when the storm is precarious.”
Editor in charge: Ye Ziming
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