From the start to the end of “2-session” conference, my take of various announcements and speeches is the key focus on the economy. The Chinese govt is hoping that the private sector, which made up of millions of SMEs, would help to contribute to the 13 million new jobs that would need to be created ANNUALLY for social stability.

Positively and negatively speaking, despite all the fiscal and monetary expansionary pro-economy measures announced to date, there are still a lot lot more the country can do. There is still a lot of firepowers.

The country is far from running out of things to do to improve the economy. When things are improved upon annually, the country could be chugging along nicely for many years to come.

Negatively speaking, we, in the business now, are facing many bureaucratic hassles that actually increase our costs of doing business in China.

Please allow me to cite two experiences. Firstly, the difficulties to remit money INTO the country and into a company’s bank account. We even called the local branch of a Chinese bank for assistance but to no avail.

Secondly, the official authorisation ie. “signature” on documentation is based on stamping of the seal. Apparently, an unauthorised person holding a company’s seal could do some harm to my company despite the principal not being present to sign any of the papers.

To end on a positive note, any improvement is a step in the direction of progress. We, in the business community, applaud the measures announced to date.