NPC and CPPCC: China’s economic planner expects no hard landing

NPC-CPPCC

The head of China’s economic planning agency says the recent economic slowdown is not serious. On the sidelines of the annual National People’s Congress, Xu Shaoshi — who heads the National Development and Reform Commission — said China is fully capable of keeping economic growth rates within a reasonable range.

CCTV’s Yang Zhao reports from Beijing.

Easing concern about China’s growth prospects, Xu said the Chinese economy is very resilient, with the capacity to avoid taking risks. He added that market demand is huge and there is still great potential for development.

“We are full of confidence in the prospects for growth, I can say that the Chinese economy will absolutely not have a hard landing,” he said.

The country’s average annual growth rate for the next five years will be above 6.5 percent, said Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday when he announced the key goals of China’s 13th five-year plan.

China was one of the fastest growing economies in the world last year, with a growth-rate of 6.9 percent.