China premier warns 2023 growth target ‘no easy task’

BEIJING: China’s new premier warned yesterday that the country’s five-per cent growth target for 2023 would not be ‘easy’ to achieve, as its rubberstamp parliament wrapped up over a week of meetings.

The government set the economic growth target of ‘around five per cent’ this month, one of the lowest in decades as China emerged from strict zeroCovid rules that dragged on its GDP.

And Li Qiang - one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s most trusted allies, confirmed as premier over the weekend admitted that goal would be hard to attain.

“I’m afraid that reaching our growth target of around five per cent will be no easy task, and will require that we redouble our efforts,” Li said at a press conference in Beijing held to mark the closing of the National People’s Congress (NPC).

China posted just three per cent growth last year, missing its stated target of around 5.5 per cent by a wide margin as the economy strained under the impact of strict Covid policies and a property crisis.

Li said Monday that the modest figure ‘has been determined after a comprehensive consideration of various factors’.

He warned of ‘many new challenges’ to growth, but added that most people ‘don’t fix their sights every day’ on the country’s economic indicators.

Instead, he said, they care more about ‘specific issues close to them’ such as housing, employment, income, education and health.

He also hit out at the United States, with relations at lows not seen in decades as the powers grapple over trade, technology and security.

“Encirclement and suppression are not advantageous for anyone,” Li said.

“China and the United States should cooperate, and must cooperate. When China and the US work together, there is much we can achieve,” he added.

Li’s comments cap more than a week of high-level meetings in Beijing. — AFP