The Chinese government has drawn up a stimulus plan for nine key industrial sectors and will announce plans for the steel and auto industries around Spring Festival, the China Business News reported, citing an unnamed source.

The nine key sectors will be targeted in the 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus package announced last November, the newspaper said.

On November 26, 2008, the State Council said that it was speeding up the formulation and implementation of stimulus plans for key industries including steel, auto, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, textile, non-ferrous metals, equipment manufacturing, information technology and light industry. Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping reiterated the point in a report to the National People's Congress on December 24.

According to the China Business News, the NDRC and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are taking the lead in formulating the industry-specific stimulus plans. An official close to the matter said that the stimulus plans are focused on tackling current problems existing in the industries. "The plan outlines the projects that will receive support," the official said, "such as M&A projects, technology transformation projects and projects that can revitalize industrial development and boost consumption."

For more information, please read the full story in Chinese:

http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000002/20090109/020000097431.shtml

(China.org.cn by Yan Pei January 9, 2009)