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China to drop specific targets for new economic five-year plan, in bid for economic flexibility: officials

蘋果日報 2021/03/09 05:55


China will stop its decades-old practice of setting specific growth targets in drawing up its 14th five-year Plan, as a measure of caution amid global and domestic uncertainties, economic planning authorities said on Monday.
In announcing the change, the National Development and Reform Commission said omitting specific quantitative growth indicators would be helpful in coping with internal as well as external factors in the new economic plan for 2021-2025.
The decision to stop using quantitative indicators, such as sales numbers, was made even though China is the only major economy that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. Premier Li Keqiang noted in a recent speech that, in spite of the global economic recession triggered by the pandemic, China’s gross domestic product still grew by 2.3% last year. The target for this year’s GDP growth will be over 6%, he said.
The world’s second-largest economy formulates thorough guidelines including a series of social and economic development initiatives every five years, while the ruling Communist Party plays the leading role in mapping out strategies for economic development, setting growth targets and initiating economic reforms.
Power generation and rail freight volume saw a year-on-year increase of 24.2% and 16.5% respectively in the first two months, reported Ning Jizhe, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Last month’s purchasing managers’ index reflected a continued economic expansion, he said, adding that consumption in retail and catering during the Lunar New Year period rose 28.7% compared to last year — a 4.9% increase compared with the same period before the COVID-19 epidemic.
All indicators showed that the country’s economy continues to expand, Ning said. With the support of proper macroeconomic policies, the Chinese government will continue to implement relief policies for businesses and strive to stabilize the country’s economic fundamentals, he added.
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