China entered a key year of economic change on a weak footing, data released on Thursday showed, underlining the tricky balancing act that Beijing faces as it tries to steer the economy away from an increasingly outdated and unsustainable model, and China’s premier affirmed that the nation’s growth target was flexible.
Beijing set its goal last week for economic growth this year at 7.5 percent. That would be a slight slowdown from the 7.7 percent achieved in 2013 and a big deceleration from the double-digit growth rates in much of the past three decades, but it would generate the job growth that is needed to secure social stability — which is crucial for Chinese policy makers.
Premier Li Keqiang, speaking at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday, reiterated this point, saying that job growth and quality-of-life issues like the battle to reduce air pollution took precedence over the headline growth figure. China needs to create 10 million jobs, he added.
Read Full Article HERE
Bettina Wassener, New York Times via CHINA US Focus http://ift.tt/1iFoQ4m
No comments:
Post a Comment