China confident economy will meet annual growth target

China is confident that it will meet its 2021 economic growth target of over 6 percent, the country's top economic regulator said on Saturday.

Speaking at an annual Chinese economic meeting held by China Center for International and Economic Exchanges, Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, listed several positive economic indicators and pledged more policy support to maintain economic stability.

"China is capable of achieving the annual target this year," said Ning, who is also head of the National Bureau of Statistics. "…China's consumer price index is set to increase around 1 percent in 2021, lower than the preset consumer inflation target of around 3 percent."

China's economy, though facing headwinds, has maintained steady growth this year, with major economic indicators keeping within a reasonable range during the first ten months, Ning said.

Citing key tasks mapped out for economy in 2022 by the annual Central Economic Work Conference, Ning noted China's economy now faces pressure linked to demand, supply and expectations, saying China will strive to stabilize the fundamental of the macro economy and keep major economic indicator within a proper range next year. 

Ning said the nation will actively roll out policies conducive to economic stability and continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy in 2022.

He noted a proactive fiscal policy must be more efficient, tailor-made and sustainable while a prudent monetary policy should maintain reasonable liquidity to support the real economy. And countercyclical adjustments and cross-cyclical adjustments should be coordinated to ensure policies are forward-looking and targeted. 

In preventing and diffusing major risks, Ning stressed the need for improving financial risks prevention and disposal mechanism, saying more efforts will be made to curb the growth of local hidden debts.

Ning also underscored the need for boosting consumer demand and expanding effective investment, saying the country will make better use of central-budget investment and local government bonds as well as speed up the construction of key projects mapped out in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). More efforts will also be made to launch new infrastructure, new urbanization and major projects and support the stable development of private investment.