Workers weld in a carmaker’s workshop in Qingzhou, Shandong Province in eastern China, on March 1, 2022.
Future publishing house Future publishing house Getty Images
BEIJING – China has announced a gross domestic product growth target of “around 5.5%” by 2022 as the annual parliamentary meeting begins.
Premier Li Keqiang revealed the figure in a speech Saturday morning local time. It is not uncommon for the official GDP target to be approximate.
Other economic targets Lee announced for employment and inflation were the same as last year.
However, he said the deficit-to-GDP ratio will be 2.8% this year, down from 3.2% last year. He expects fiscal revenues to grow in 2022 and that the government can use profits from state-owned enterprises, allowing spending to increase by more than 2 trillion yuan ($ 316.5 billion) in 2022 compared to 2021.
China will target a city unemployment rate of “no more than 5.5%” and a consumer price index of “about 3%”, according to Li.
“A comprehensive analysis of the developing dynamics at home and abroad shows that this year our country will face many more risks and challenges and we must continue to insist on overcoming them,” he said, according to the official English version of his speech. . “The harder things get, the more confident we need to be and the more solid steps we need to take to achieve results.”
Incentive plans
Economists widely expected the GDP target to be set at around 5% or slightly higher. They want details on plans to stimulate an economy that has slowed significantly.
Li said on Saturday that in order to achieve this year’s economic goals, China must pursue “reasonable and effective macro-policies” with “flexible and appropriate” monetary policies. Li said the yuan’s exchange rate “will remain broadly stable at an adaptive, balanced level.”
China’s economic growth slowed to a 4% year-on-year increase in the fourth quarter, despite year-on-year growth of 8.1%.
Read more about China from CNBC Pro
The country was the only major economy with growth in 2020, while the rest of the world struggled with the coronavirus pandemic.
But slow consumer spending has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic, and the effects of regulatory measures in Beijing on technology and real estate have slowed growth. China’s tough Zero Covid policy, with sudden blockades and travel restrictions, has also weighed heavily on the economy.
Over the past two weeks, heads of government ministries have been talking about plans for more economic support, especially for small businesses and consumers.
The “two sessions” are an annual meeting of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body and the legislature of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
Although largely symbolic, the meetings attract delegates from across the country to approve and announce national economic policies for next year. These include targets for GDP growth, employment, inflation, deficits and government spending.
This year, the two sessions will last about a week, with production ending on March 11.