He Lifeng (C), head of the National Development and Reform Commission, Ning Jizhe (2nd R) and Lian Weiliang (2nd L), both deputy heads of the commission, attend a press conference on advancing the high-quality development of China’s economy for the second session of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 6, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)
BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China's economy will continue to maintain the momentum of sound development, as the country has announced a raft of measures in the government work report to boost development in 2019, an official said Wednesday.
"The economy will continue to see steady growth and make new progress, and the country will be able to realize its projected targets," He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.
China set its 2019 GDP growth target at 6-6.5 percent, and consumer inflation target at around 3 percent, according to the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.
The range target came after the Chinese economy outperformed the 2018 official projection of "around 6.5 percent" to expand 6.6 percent. The growth rate was the fastest among the world's five largest economies, He said.
"Amid great downward pressure on the economy and drastic fluctuation of world economy last year, it was indeed not easy for China to have achieved such results," he added.
He also mentioned China's improving business environment, as China advanced to a global ranking of 46 for ease of doing business in 2018, up from 78 for 2017, according to a World Bank Group report released last year.
"This shows the constant improvement in our business environment, and greater progress might be made this year," he said.