BEIJING, March 5 – China seeks to achieve a GDP growth rate of around 5 percent for 2024, the latest signal that the world’s second-largest economy is committed to high-quality development despite uncertainties at home and abroad.
The projected goal, which remains unchanged from the previous year’s growth target, is one of the key development objectives unveiled in the government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang to the national legislature, which began its annual session Tuesday.
In 2024, China aims to create over 12 million jobs in urban areas, and keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at about 5.5 percent, said the report. The country also plans to spend 1.66554 trillion yuan (around 234.5 billion U.S. dollars) on defense, up 7.2 percent, and sets an inflation target of about 3 percent.
The GDP growth target of around 5 percent for this year was set after the Chinese economy showed solidity and resilience in 2023 by recording year-on-year growth of 5.2 percent.
“In setting the growth rate at around 5 percent, we have taken into account the need to boost employment and incomes and prevent and defuse risks,” Li said.
This growth rate is well aligned with the objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the goal of basically realizing modernization. It also takes account of the potential for growth and the conditions supporting growth and reflects the requirement to pursue progress and strive to deliver, according to Li.
The report also noted multiple difficulties and challenges that the country is facing, such as an insufficiently solid foundation for sustained economic recovery and growth and a lack of effective demand.
“Achieving this year’s targets will not be easy, so we need to maintain policy focus, work harder, and mobilize the concerted efforts of all sides,” Li said.
A proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy will be continued in 2024, according to the report. An array of measures to boost growth this year have also been disclosed, including 3.9 trillion yuan of special-purpose bonds for local governments and the issuing of ultra-long special treasury bonds.
The report also revealed that China will increase effective investment. This year, 700 billion yuan will be earmarked in the central government budget for investment.
A series of tasks to modernize the industrial system and develop new quality productive forces at a faster pace are outlined in the report, including industrial and supply chain improvement and upgrade, and the cultivation of emerging industries and future-oriented industries such as hydrogen power, new materials, biomanufacturing, commercial spaceflight, quantum technology and life sciences.
China also plans to implement measures to ensure the national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, vowing more efforts to attract foreign investment.
