China ready to show stimulus hand after Trump wins US presidential election

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China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, is set to conclude a week-long session days after Donald Trump was confirmed as the next president of the United States. A press conference is being held shortly after the proceedings.

Before the session, expectations for a large fiscal stimulus plan were high, as changes to the national budget or the fiscal deficit ratio require approval from the legislature. But as is typical, news out of the committee has been sparse as its members meet – though it was revealed a bill allowing debt swaps for local governments was under review on Monday, the session’s opening day.

The hotly anticipated stimulus, which would be deployed to help the country reach its target of “around 5 per cent” for gross domestic product growth, may not be as broad or as immediate as initially presumed. After two quarters of weakness, the world’s second-largest economy has shown signs of a rebound, with the official purchasing managers’ index returning to expansionary territory in October.

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