China pushes for 5% GDP growth

Premier Li Qiang delivers the Government Work Report at the opening meeting of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

China aims to see economic expansion at around 5 percent for 2024, unchanged from last year, as the world's second-largest economy will leverage intensified and targeted macro policies to sustain stable growth, according to the Government Work Report released on Tuesday.

The country pledged to pursue a proactive fiscal policy that will be intensified as appropriate with improved quality and efficiency, and exercise a prudent monetary policy in a flexible, moderate, targeted and effective manner, according to the report delivered by Premier Li Qiang at the opening of the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing.

China has set its projected deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3 percent for 2024 and targeted a whole-year inflation rate of around 3 percent, according to the report, which has been submitted to the country's top legislature for deliberation.

Meanwhile, China, as laid out in the report, aims to create more than 12 million urban jobs this year, and keeps the surveyed urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 percent.

The second session of the 14th National People's Congress opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

The country will maintain RMB exchange rate generally stable at an adaptive and balanced level and will effectively prevent and defuse risks in major areas, said the report.

Moreover, the country will fully implement the guidelines and supporting measures on driving the development of the private sector, intensify efforts to attract and utilize more foreign investment, and increase the volume and raise the quality of foreign trade, according to the report.

Steps will be taken toward refining the real estate sector policies and meeting reasonable financing needs of real estate enterprises under various forms of ownership on an equal basis, so as to ensure stable and sound development of the real estate market, the report said.

Great efforts should be made to advance the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, with special emphases on upgrading industrial and supply chains, fostering emerging industries and future-oriented industries, and growing the digital economy, said the report.

Xu Guanju, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Transfar Group, a leading chemicals manufacturer, said that he was inspired by the country's efforts in developing new quality productive forces in the Government Work Report.

Xu said that the report pointed out the direction of relying on technological innovations to drive development and relying on quality instead of quantity to improve manufacturing, Xu said. "It will inspire us to prioritize quality improvement and technological breakthroughs to boost our competitiveness on the global stage," he said.

Lei Jun, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Xiaomi Corp, said China's emphasis on cultivating new quality productive forces will motivate companies to embrace higher-end, greener and smarter manufacturing.