China's economic growth target for 2024 set at around 5%, AP Explains

(5 Mar 2024)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4481515

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beijing, China - 05 March 2024
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Dake Kang, Associated Press:
"The Chinese government has set an economic growth target of about 5 percent for this year, in line with market expectations. The announcement was made Tuesday at the opening of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress. So what does ‘about 5 percent’ mean? It signals that the government will likely inject some stimulus into the economy to try to boost growth - not a lot but a moderate amount. Many analysts are forecasting slower growth of around 4.5 percent. But they say that setting a lower growth target would have shaken markets and investor confidence. So now we’ll have to see what the government does, from government spending to rebates to consumers, to try to get growth up to 5 percent this year."

STORYLINE:
Associated Press Beijing correspondent Dake Kang explains Chinese Premier Li Qiang's announcement that China’s economic growth target for this year is around 5%.

The target is in line with last year’s performance despite forecasts for a slowdown. The ruling Communist Party has said it is prioritizing efforts to encourage consumer spending to help drive the economy.

Last year, the economy grew at a 5.2% pace, but that was after a very slow 3% annual growth rate in 2022, when the country was enduring the worst disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The complexity, severity, and uncertainty of the external environment are increasing,” Li told the nearly 3,000 national congress deputies.

“The foundation for China's sustained economic recovery is not yet stable, with insufficient effective demand, overcapacity in some industries, weak social expectations, and still many risks and hidden dangers.”

Li emphasized a need to balance security and stability with economic aims, and said the leadership would strive to improve its handling of policies.

The consumer-led recovery hoped for after the end of anti-virus controls that kept millions of people at home faltered midway through last year, as falling housing prices and worries over jobs left many families either reluctant or unable to spend more. Control over the economy increasingly is concentrated under leader Xi Jinping.

AP video shot by Tian Macleod Ji

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