New Delhi: Kicking off its annual parliamentary session, China's National People’s Congress (NPC) on Sunday announced a modest target for economic growth of about 5 percent this year, Reuters reported.
The session, which started on Sunday in Beijing, is also expected to give President Xi Jinping a third term and carry out the biggest government shake-up in a decade.
China's GDP increased by barely 3% last year, one of the worst results in decades, due to three years of COVID-19 restrictions, a crisis in its real estate sector, a crackdown on private industry, and a decline in global demand for Chinese exports.
Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang, in his work report, said that it was important to prioritise economic stability and set a goal to create around 12 million urban jobs this year, up from last year's target of at least 11 million, according to Reuters.
Li set a budget deficit target of 3.0% of GDP, widening from a goal of around 2.8% last year.
"We should give priority to the recovery and expansion of consumption," said Li, who spoke for just under an hour in a speech to open the parliament, which will run through March 13.
"The incomes of urban and rural residents should be boosted through multiple channels. We should stabilize spending on big-ticket items and promote recovery in consumption of consumer services," he added.
The 5% GDP target for this year was at the low end of forecasts, as policymakers recently told Reuters that a range as high as 6% may be established. It is also lower than the 5.5% aim set last year.
"While the official growth target has been lowered for the second consecutive year, which might be a disappointment to the market, we reckon investors (should) pay attention to the underlying growth momentum to gauge the recovery pace," Reuters quoted Zhou Hao, an economist at Guotai Junan International, as saying.
China Increases Defence Budget By 7.2%
Beijing increased its defence budget by 7.2 percent, marginally higher than last year, to 1.55 trillion yuan (about USD 224 billion) on Sunday. This is the eighth consecutive year that China has announced a single-digit percentage point increase in its military budget.
Last year, China increased its defence spending by 7.1% to 1.45 trillion yuan. Defense spending for this year has been increased to 1.55 trillion yuan.
Li in his report said that the armed forces should intensify military training and preparedness across the board, develop new military strategic guidance, devote greater energy to training under combat conditions, and make well-coordinated efforts to strengthen military work in all directions and domains.