China Premier Says GDP Growth Target Is Around 6.5% for 2017

Last year, with China’s economy slowing, the defense budget recorded its lowest increase in six years, 7.6 percent, the first single-digit rise since 2010, following a almost unbroken two-decade run of double-digit increases.

Economist say China’s debt is already unsustainable at 2.5 times the annual GDP, and are concerned it could lead to a deeper economic downturn or even meltdown.

However the country’s defence budget is still far smaller than that of the US. “This means that the monetary policy will gradually tighten”, said Zhou Hao, emerging markets economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore.

While last year’s speech triggered a rally in commodities after Beijing signalled economic development was still its “central task”, Mr Li indicated the focus this year was on a smooth run-up to the 19th Party Congress, at which five of the country’s seven top leaders will be replaced.

“At present, overall, systemic risks are under control. We should be prepared for intervention from outside forces”, Fu said. “We need to step on the gas”, Mr Xu said.

It will steadily push forward with de-leveraging, mainly in the non-financial corporate sector, Li added.

The fortunes of the richest 100 members of China’s parliament and its advisory body – all dollar billionaires – grew about 64 percent in the four years since Xi Jinping rose to power, according to data from an organization tracking wealth in China. It sits once a year to review the previous year’s work and set targets and priorities for the new year.

“We have always had full confidence about ensuring lasting prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macau”, Li said. Nonetheless, China remains one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Swathes of northern China were blanketed under toxic smog this winter, affecting more than 100 million people and forcing government agencies to take emergency measures to curb pollution.

China is also dealing with increased tensions in the Korean Peninsula, where the USA and South Korea are preparing to deploy a missile-defence system that China has long criticized. GDP growth was 6.9% last year, the lowest in years.

“As overcapacity is cut, we must provide assistance to laid-off workers”, he was reported as saying by Reuters.

Li also pledged to create 11 million new jobs in 2016 and downsize “zombie” companies that were underperforming.

Chinese critic Zhang Lifan said it was a huge and fatal mistake: “The state owned enterprises lack vitality but they are preferred because numerous leaders own them”.