Growth target hard to achieve, warns NBS

Staff reporter and Reuters

China's economic growth goal of around 5 percent is not an easy task, said the National Bureau of Statistics, after officials outlined steps they are taking to try to get consumers to spend more.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said that the external environment has become more challenging, domestic demand remains inadequate, and some enterprises were finding it difficult to operate.

Since the recovery is still not strong, China will take more proactive measures to boost domestic demand, and further open up its markets, he said.

China's industrial output grew 5.9 percent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, slowing from the 6.2 percent expansion in December, according to the data from the NBS. However, it was ahead of expectations for a 5.3 percent rise in a Reuters poll of 26 analysts.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 4.0 percent in the January-February period, better than a 3.7 percent rise in December and marking the quickest rate since November 2024.

On Sunday, the State Council unveiled a "special action plan" to boost consumption, featuring measures including increasing residents' income and establishing a childcare subsidy scheme.

Deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission Li Chunlin said the government will raise the minimum wage and step up efforts to stabilize the stock and property markets to strengthen consumer confidence.

However, China's urban unemployment rate climbed to 5.4 percent in February, the highest in two years, as economic headwinds continue to weigh on the job market.

In other news, vice premier He Lifeng met former US treasury secretary Henry Paulson in Beijing on Sunday to exchange views amid Sino-US economic and trade tensions, Xinhua reported.

He, a Politburo member and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, said China's economy is maintaining its upwards momentum and the market is expected to continue to improve.