China’s premier pledges ‘decisive’ action to keep nation’s growth on track as economy slows

China’s government has the policy tools to bolster the nation’s economic growth and is fully resolved to use them, Premier Li Keqiang said.

The government will act decisively if there are signs that economic growth may slip out a “reasonable range”, Li said in comments published on a government website on Monday.

Li also alluded to the new Year of the Monkey and Chinese literature in his comments.

He said the government would not shy away from using its own “gold-banded cudgel” to keep growth on track, a reference to the magical weapon wielded by the Monkey King in the 16th-century Chinese novel the Journey to the West.

Li did not specify what policies he would adopt, but the message suggests Beijing will be more aggressive in trying to arrest a deepening slowdown.

Economic expansion decelerated to the lowest level in a quarter of century last year while imports and exports shrank further in January.