Li Keqiang "China Will Achieve This Year's Economic Goals"

Expressing Confidence After Victory in the COVID-19 War

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of China, stated that "the Chinese economy is showing a stable recovery" and "the economic growth target for this year can be achieved."

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 16th, Premier Li attended the "World Economic Forum Global Entrepreneurs Virtual Special Meeting" held the previous day and made this forecast about China's economy this year. This expressed confidence in economic recovery after effectively declaring victory in the battle against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

During the "Two Sessions" (National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) held last May, the Chinese government did not disclose specific economic growth targets for this year, but it is known that an internal target of 2 to 3% was set.

The Chinese economy has recently shown signs of rebound. The National Bureau of Statistics of China announced the day before that retail sales in August reached 2.9273 trillion yuan (approximately 509 trillion Korean won), an increase of 0.5% compared to the same month last year. This is the first time since December last year that China's monthly retail sales increased year-on-year. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, China's retail sales fell as much as -20.5% in January and February.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, emphasized, "Most economic indicators are lower than the same period last year, and some indicators still show that the Chinese economy is facing difficulties," adding, "What is clear is that the Chinese economy is recovering and growing." He further noted, "Both industrial production and the service industry in the third quarter are improving compared to the second quarter."

Xinhua News Agency attached great significance to the positive turnaround in retail sales, which can gauge the domestic market in China in August. It evaluated that the domestic sector, which had rarely improved, showed signs of recovery.

Premier Li expressed confidence, saying, "More than 7 million new urban jobs have been created this year," and "the Chinese economy is maintaining a stable recovery." He added, "The international community must work together to overcome the impact of the pandemic and promote the prosperity of the global economy," emphasizing, "We will actively support small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals, while also implementing policies to support large enterprises."

Tax reduction policies will also be promoted to aid economic recovery. He stated, "Tax cuts will reduce the burden on enterprises by more than 2.5 trillion yuan annually," encouraging global companies to invest in China.

As the US-China conflict continues, the Chinese government has proposed changing the existing manufacturing and export-led economic structure to a dual circulation model of manufacturing, export, and domestic demand as a new economic development model. Given that exports have growth limitations for the time being due to COVID-19, the Chinese leadership intends to drive economic growth through domestic demand.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.