China to boost spending to balance trade war woes

Chinese government officials on Monday outlined steps they are taking to try to boost domestic demand by getting consumers to spend more as a tariff war launched by US President Trump threatens to curb the country’s exports.

The central bank will study creating new tools to increase low-cost funding for important consumption areas, said Che Shiyi from the People’s Bank of China, the central bank.

On the spending side, the government has already provided a first tranche of 81 billion yuan ($11.2 billion) to local governments in January for a rebate program to boost auto and appliance sales, announced Li Chunlin, the vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.

The moves seemed designed to demonstrate that the government is committed to reviving a sluggish economy.

New data released Monday showed signs of improvement in the first two months of the year.