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UPDATE 1-China says to take more steps to counter crisis
(Adds details, background)
BEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) - China will take further steps, including cutting taxes and increasing investments aimed at boosting domestic demand, to counter the growing impact from the financial crisis, the ruling Communist Party said on Friday.
Beijing is showing growing concern over the abrupt cooling in the economy. The government unveiled a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) fiscal package earlier this month, and the central bank followed up this week with its biggest cut in interest rates since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
"The global financial crisis is still spreading. Its shock and the resulting losses for the global economy are growing. The impact on our economic growth will also become bigger and bigger," the Party's Politburo concluded during a meeting on Friday, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.
"We have to do complete estimates of the potential difficulties and make thorough preparations regarding possible measures," it said. "Maintaining stable and fairly fast economic growth should be the first priority of our economic work next year."
Annual gross domestic product growth slowed to 9 percent in the third quarter from 11.9 percent in all of 2007, and officials have warned that economic data for November could signal an accelerated slowdown.
The government is also concerned about the impact on social stability of an increase in job layoffs, as export-oriented factories slow production or shut down altogether.
The government will adopt "flexible and prudent" macroeconomic policies to keep growth on track, including an expansive fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy, the Politburo said.
It will also use a mix of measures including tax cuts and more central government investment to boost domestic demand, and work to make sure its foreign trade grows in a "stable" way, CCTV cited the statement as saying. It did not elaborate further. (Reporting by Eadie Chen; Writing by Jason Subler; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
