China vows more fiscal support as virus roils slowing economy

Shoppers wearing protective face masks as they line up to go through a checkout at a supermarket in Beijing on Sunday (Feb 16). The number of new cases from China's COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic dropped for a third consecutive day on Sunday. - AFP

BEIJING: China pledged to roll out more effective stimulus despite a widening fiscal gap as the Covid-19 novel coronavirus hits an already slowing economy, highlighting the challenges the epidemic is imposing as the death toll stacks up and thousands of new cases are reported each day.

The nation will further perfect and implement measures this year to reduce corporate taxes and cut unnecessary government expenses as the virus takes a toll on production, Finance Minister Liu Kun wrote on Sunday in Qiushi, the Communist Party of China’s flagship magazine.