Defending his Government’s decision to set a lower GDP target for the next five years, the Chinese Premier, Mr Wen Jiabao, has said it is not a lower target as it aims to achieve high quality and efficient growth to improve the standard of life in the country.

Addressing his annual press conference here today, Mr Wen said China plans to achieve a high quality and efficient annual growth rate of 7 per cent during the 12th Five-Year Plan, starting from this year, which is not easy by any means.

Given China’s increasingly large economic aggregate and the need to raise the quality and efficiency of its growth, “a 7 per cent growth rate is not a low target’’, he said.

The Chinese Prime Minister addresses the media every year at the conclusion of the annual parliamentary session.

According to the new five-year programme adopted by the top legislature, China has lowered its annual economic growth target to 7 per cent for the period 2011-2015 from the target of 7.5 per cent for the previous five years. This is despite the fact that it achieved over 11 per cent expansion during the past five years.

“The lowering of the target not only demonstrates the Government’s determination, but also is a major move to transform its economic growth pattern,” Mr Wen said.

“A fast growth speed would bring more jobs and but lead to high inflationary pressure; A slower speed means less new jobs and risks economic recession,” the Premier said.

He said China must strike a balance between economic growth speed, job creation and inflation control.

“We should make full use of this opportunity to adjust the economic growth pattern and address the unbalanced, uncoordinated or unsustainable factors that have existed in China’s economy for a long time,” he said.

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