Minister: Jobs more important than growth
Print Edition
It’s all right for China to slightly miss the government’s 7.5 percent economic growth target this year as long as enough jobs are created, the finance minister said yesterday. A healthy labor market is more important.
At a briefing, Lou Jiwei said the government had three broad economic policy goals every year: create jobs, control inflation and boost the economy. He said jobs are the most important of the three.
“Let’s say for instance, this year’s economic growth is not 7.5 percent, but 7.3 percent or 7.2 percent. Does this count as around 7.5 percent? Yes, it counts,” Lou said.
“Whether GDP growth is to the left or to the right of 7.5 percent, that is not very important. What is important is job creation.”
China aims to create 11 million jobs this year, he said.
As the country seeks to revamp its maturing economy and move toward slower but better-quality growth, from expansion driven by exports and investment, annual growth targets are taking on a new meaning.
China said on Wednesday it is aiming to expand the economy by about 7.5 percent this year, slightly below last year’s actual 7.7 percent. At the same time, the government declared war on pollution and promised to slow investment growth.
Three decades of blistering growth has turned China’s economy into the world’s most powerful growth engine, but has also left it with deep problems including widespread pollution and corruption.
The last time China missed its growth target was in 1989, according to Standard Chartered.
For seven years up until 2011, China had an annual growth target of 8 percent. But it was shaved to around 7.5 percent in 2012 as part of plans to rebalance the economy.
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