Tokyo, 5 March, /AJMEDIA
China set a gross domestic product target of around 5.5 percent for 2022 at the opening of an annual session of parliament on Saturday, amid mounting concern that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine would put serious downward pressure on the global economy.
The economic growth goal was lower than the target of over 6.0 percent for last year, as the world’s second-biggest economy has also shown signs of slowdown due largely to the prolonged COVID-19 outbreak and sluggishness with the real estate sector.
At the National People’s Congress, China’s top leadership is expected to map out measures to stabilize economic and social development in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party’s twice-a-decade congress in fall, foreign affairs experts say.
President Xi Jinping, who took power in 2012, has been keen to bolster his clout in the country to secure a controversial third term at the key party meeting. In 2018, China removed the two-term limit for the presidency from its Constitution, effectively enabling him to hold on to power for life.
The focus is also on whether Beijing will show a stronger commitment to reunifying self-ruled Taiwan with the mainland during the parliament session, with fears growing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could prod Xi to use military might to achieve his ambition.
In 2021, China’s economy grew 8.1 percent from a year earlier. However, in the October-December period, it grew a tepid 4.0 percent against a backdrop of worries about another wave of coronavirus infections and potential financial market turmoil.
Disruptions to the global supply chain from Western economic sanctions against Russia in the aftermath of its war on Ukraine may also deal a blow to the Chinese economy down the road, analysts say.
But China’s target for 2022 is higher than the economic growth rate projected by the International Monetary Fund.
In its update of the World Economic Outlook report released in late January, the Washington-based institution said that China’s economy is expected to grow 4.8 percent this year on factors such as the nation’s radical “zero-COVID” policy.
In 2020, China abandoned setting an economic growth target for the year, citing “great uncertainty” over the impact of the pandemic on its economy.
This year’s National People’s Congress session is scheduled to end next Friday.
