Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei expressed hope that China would be able to keep industrial production levels steady through 2020 despite pressures faced by trade tensions. The government’s move to offer policy support and cut taxes should help support the stabilization of industrial production.

Unlike the rest of the year, industrial production witnessed a surge in December, expanding 6.9% YoY and bringing the overall expansion for 2019 to 5.7%, within the government’s expected target for a growth of 5.5%-6.0%. Weighed down by the trade war with the US, the Chinese government had rolled out stimulus measures to boost domestic demand even as exports declined amid tariff hikes.

Miao made these comments at a news conference earlier today, adding “Looking forward to 2020, industrial development faces many difficulties and risks. The pressure on stabilising industrial growth is still big.”

Despite the US and China making some progress with the signing of the phase one trade deal, the Chinese government is expected to roll out more tax cuts and fee reductions to support the ailing manufacturing sector this year. In 2019, cuts in taxes and fees had cost the government more than 2 trillion yuan.