Primary Taiwanese news agency CNA (The Central News Agency) recently reported that Chinese Deputy Premier Liu He tasked all levels of the government, as a “political duty,” to pay off their debts owed to private sector companies. Currently, privately owned companies are facing high pressure from both internal challenges and international threats. Liu indicated that this important task is tightly related to the government’s reputation, economic growth, social expectations, and the job market. The measures of the task were established to, by the end of this year, clear up half of the debts that the government and state-owned companies owe as well as all debts that the central government owned companies owe. The urgent task reflected a growing problem that the government, for many years, has been dragging out the payments owed to the private sector. The current domestic and international economic challenges have now brought that issue to a tipping point. Private companies in China face a very unfair business environment.
Source: CNA, October 23, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201910230098.aspx