China vows to prop up economy but details remain scarce for now

Anxious investors have to wait till later in October for more information on the policies

- Tan Dawn Wei

BEIJING - There was no headline figure that investors who tuned in to a morning press conference on Oct 12 by China's Finance Minister were hanging their hopes on.

Long on promises but short on specifics, Mr Lan Fo'an's briefing to a room packed with local and foreign journalists nonetheless provided some needed optimism as he signaled the government's intent on resuscitating the ailing economy, and gave the assurance that it could scale up if necessary.

Investors have been anticipating a strong stimulus package from Beijing in the past week that could inject confidence and turn the listless economy around.

Their expectations were raised before Golden Week, a week-long holiday that started on Oct 1, when the authorities on Sept 24 announced a raft of policies, from cutting interest rates and lowering the cash reserve requirements for banks to relaxing housing curbs to boost buying, as well as support for the stock market.