China: No Economic Growth Target For The First Time In Decades

Even though forecasts indicate that the Chinese economic shock due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be short and temporary, for the first time in over 30 years, the government will not set an economic growth target for this year, Prime Minister Li Keqiang expressed on Friday.

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During the annual meetings between the Chinese People's National Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, known as "Two Sessions," Keqiang blamed the "great uncertainty" caused by the pandemic in terms of economy and trade projections.

Due to Covid-19, China recorded a GDP decline of -6,8%. This is the first time something like this happens in the nation's recent history.

"We have not set a specific target for economic growth this year. This is because our country will face some factors that are difficult to predict in its development due to the great uncertainty regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the world economic and trade environment," Keqiang pointed out.

Instead, China will seek for the integral construction of a moderately affluent society, by stabilizing the employment rates. To achieve this, China will create over 9 million urban job vacancies. With this, the government hopes to keep the urban unemployment rate at about 6 percent.

"Judging by the fundamentals of China's economy, the positive development trend has not changed," National Development and Reform Commission He Lifeng said on this. "The agricultural sector continued to maintain a good development trend. Emerging industries are enjoying a good growth momentum, while traditional industries are recovering well," he added.