China yesterday announced an economic growth target for this year of about 7 percent and said it would boost government spending, signaling that the lowest rate of expansion for a quarter of a century is the “new normal” for the world’s No. 2 economy.
Speaking at the opening of the annual National People’s Congress meeting, Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) vowed to fight corruption and pollution, and stressed the need for more painful reforms to put the economy on a more sustainable footing after three decades of breakneck growth.
“The downward pressure on China’s economy is intensifying,” Li told about 3,000 delegates gathered at the Great Hall of the People.
Photo: Reuters
“Deep-seated problems in the country’s economic development are becoming more obvious. The difficulties we are facing this year could be bigger than last year. The new year is a crucial year for deepening all-round reforms,” he said.
Outlining the government’s policy priorities for this year, Li said those priorities included pushing ahead with reforms of the giant state-owned enterprises and moves to liberalize the banking system and financial markets.
“In order to defuse problems and risks, avoid falling into the ‘middle income trap,’ and achieve modernization, China must rely on development, and development requires an appropriate growth rate,” Li said. “At the same time, China’s economic development has entered a ‘new normal.’”
A key plank of China’s reform agenda is overhauling its industrial sector by tackling overcapacity in polluting heavy industries and moving manufacturing up the global value chain.
Li promised a greater role for private business in the economy, which he said would be further opened up by halving the number of industries in which foreign investment is restricted.
Li said China aimed to create more than 10 million new jobs this year and would ensure the jobless rate does not exceed 4.5 percent.
Li said that he was confident of the peaceful growth in relations with Taiwan, saying it was a historic trend that could not be reversed.
“We will strive to make progress in discussion and dialogue between the two sides of the strait, advance cross-strait economic integration for mutual benefit and promote local and youth exchanges,” he said.
Additional reporting by AP
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