China prepares to spend $10B in next portion of stimulus package

China set to spend $10B more of stimulus package

BEIJING — The Chinese government is preparing to spend 70 billion yuan ($10.3 billion) in the next portion of its previously announced stimulus plan, a state newspaper reported.

The planned investment, which will be mainly used on infrastructure projects, will be announced within a week, the Economic Observer said Saturday, citing an unidentified official from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning body.

Calls to the commission’s office rang unanswered Sunday.

The investment will be the latest slice of a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) package announced in November aimed at boosting domestic consumption to help cushion the impact of the global slowdown. It calls for pumping money into the economy through spending on public works.

The central government has so far spent 230 billion yuan ($33.8 billion) of the package in two batches of 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) and 130 billion yuan ($19 billion) in the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year respectively, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said a week ago the country’s stimulus package is working and the economy is “better than expected,” but he cautioned that complete recovery will take much more time because the global financial crisis continues to spread.