SHANGHAI (Reuters – China’s confidence, conditions, and ability are all there to maintain economic growth at a manageable level, according to a senior state planning official who told the Xinhua News Agency.

With a downturn in property prices and strict COVID-19 restrictions that affect consumer spending, the world’s second largest economy will face multiple obstacles heading into 2022.

China needs to assess the impact of its policies on growth prior to implementation and be “prudent” when removing those that have contractionary effects. Ning Jizhe is the deputy head of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and spoke in an interview, published Wednesday.

The country will be making preparations ahead for next year’s economy work and “try to stabilize economic operations during the first quarter, first half and even whole of the year.”

The finance ministry reported last week that China has issued 1.46 trillion Yuan ($229.21billion) as part of the 2022 advance quote for special local bonds. This was to spur investment and help support the economy.

Ning said that China would increase its government spending and support manufacturers and small businesses to ensure price stability.

China will work with the National Bureau of Statistics to stabilize industry supply chains and focus on chip shortages.

China’s proactive fiscal policies will be continued to aid economic growth. It will also intensify efforts to create an integrated domestic market and further reduce the “negative” list for foreign investments, Xinhua reported Ning saying.

China has a negative list that allows foreign investors to be restricted or banned from certain industries such as telecoms and resources.

Ning stated that China would also use cross-cyclical as well as counter-cyclical measures in order to stop wild economic volatility.

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