A man walks past the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing File photo: VCG

China's macro leverage would continue to climb in 2020, as greater policy support is expected to steady the virus-hit economy, according to a new report by the National Institution for Finance and Development (NIFD), a government-backed think tank.

The nation's macro leverage ratio hit 245.4 percent in 2019, up 6.1 percentage points from the year before, the 21st Century Business Herald reported Sunday, citing the report's findings.

A quarterly breakdown of the reading showed that the economy's macro leverage saw a massive spike in the first quarter of 2019 before moderating in the next two quarters and eventually dropping in the final quarter.

The number is estimated to rise by 10 percentage points in 2020 from the year before, as the COVID-19 puts greater pressure on the economy, according to Zhang Xiaojing, deputy head of the NIFD.

The economy's growth rate is likely to slow down by 2 percentage points in the first quarter of the year, he forecast.

The Chinese economy recorded an expansion of 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, official data showed.

For one thing, the country needs to tolerate the continued rise in its macro leverage. In addition, efforts are required to restructure the leverage, Zhang noted.

The restructuring means a reduction in debts among state-owned enterprises and hidden debt for local government as well as an increase in leverage by the central government, he suggested.

As part of broad-based efforts to shore up the economy, two of the country's highest decision-making bodies both called for bigger policy support to prop up the economy last week.

A meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Wednesday said that to better fight the epidemic, the country will increase funding and roll out targeted tax and fee reductions to ease strains on firms, while looking to offer discounted loan interest rates for producers of anti-virus materials, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

A State Council's executive meeting on Tuesday also said that the country will enhance macro-economic regulation.