China premier says he’s ‘fully confident’ country’s sluggish economy will hit 5% growth target

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday he was “fully confident” the country would hit its economic goals this year, lauding recent stimulus measures and suggesting there was still room for more.

Beijing has set a growth target of around five percent for 2024, but in the third quarter the country saw its slowest expansion in a year and a half.

The government has announced a raft of measures aimed at boosting activity, including rate cuts and the easing of some home purchasing restrictions, but analysts have bemoaned the lack of detail so far.

Observers hope a specific figure for the stimulus could emerge from this week’s meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top body of China’s rubber stamp parliament, in Beijing.

Speaking Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a major international trade show in Shanghai, Li said: “We are fully confident in the realisation of this year’s goals and the development of China’s economy in the future.”

The premier, who has official responsibility for economic policy, suggested that authorities still had room to manoeuvre when it came to further measures.

“There is a relatively large space for financial and monetary policies, and the policy tools are even more abundant,” he said.

An initial market rally when the measures were announced has since fizzled out, with investors put out by the lack of detail.

But there have been glimmers of hope for the economy recently, including China’s manufacturing output expanding for the first time in six months in October.

Activity in China’s services sector also accelerated in October, according to an independent index published Tuesday.

‘China is very, very open’

On Monday lawmakers on the NPC standing committee meeting reviewed a bill that would raise local government debt ceilings to replace existing hidden debts, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Another challenge facing the economy is escalating trade rows with several key trading partners — most notably the European Union and the United States.

Speaking at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), an annual showcase trade show in financial hub Shanghai, Li insisted China was committed to opening up further to foreign investment.

China has railed against tariffs on its electric vehicles imposed by the EU and Washington among others.

Beijing last month announced provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports, and has initiated anti-dumping probes into some EU pork and dairy imports.

French trade minister Sophie Primas, who is attending the CIIE, told AFP on Monday that the window for negotiation over those tariffs remained “open” but warned Paris could take all possible measures in response.

Asked at that expo on Tuesday whether she thought China was opening up more to foreign companies, she replied that in general, “China is very, very open to all countries, especially France”.

“There are obviously a few disputes at the moment over certain industries… For us, in France, the cognac industry has been hit hard,” she added.

“But the relations we’ve had here suggest that we’ll be able to continue to negotiate and we’ll be able to continue to have these relations, which are long-standing.”

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