China sets a lower, pragmatic growth rate

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang had placed before the National People’s Congress (NPC) economic growth target of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

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This is adjusting the growth rate a little below 5 per cent, which has been the norm for the last three years. China had grown furiously for over three decades at IO per cent annually, but it had to make the 6 per cent growth the new normal.

In the last few years, the growth figure had to be adjusted downwards. Shen Danyang, who headed the group which drafted this year’s work report, said, “The target of 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent economic growth, while striving to achieve better results, is intended to strike balance between what is needed and what is feasible,” according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

Shen also said that “the target range leaves room for structural adjustment risk prevention and reforms while remaining broadly aligned with the country’s 2035 vision”, which includes doubling the 2020 per capita income by 2035, and to attain the status of a moderately developed economy.