GONE are the days of double-digit growth in China, with official targets always far exceeded. That was the message delivered on March 5th by the prime minister, Li Keqiang, at the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament. Mr Li called for growth of “about 7%” this year. At 7.4%, last year’s growth was already the slowest in nearly a quarter-century. He said the slowdown was what the government had expected as it tries to build a steadier, stronger economy. But the going will be tough.
In his address to nearly 3,000 delegates in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People (pictured above, with posing attendants), Mr Li said economic difficulties in the year ahead “may be even more formidable” than in 2014. “Downward pressure”, he said, was intensifying. But he also used a phrase that has in recent months become a mantra for Chinese officials: slower growth, he said, was the “new normal”. His speech was peppered with calls for further economic reform, despite the complaints of industries hit by closures and job losses. Mr Li spoke several times of the need to reduce the power and...Continue reading
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