Avoid big stimulus plan

Local governments now serve as a better barometer for monitoring the economic winds.

While investors are waiting for the central government to give clearer signs on whether it will launch a powerful stimulus package as it did four years ago, local governments have taken the lead in announcing massive investment plans.

Guizhou province, for instance, will reportedly launch a 3,000-billion-yuan ($473 billion) investment plan this month to stimulate local tourism, its pillar industry. Eastern and central cities such as Ningbo in Zhejiang province, Nanjing in Jiangsu province and Changsha in Hunan province have rolled out impressive programs to boost local growth.