China sets its growth target at 5% and increases its army budget
Chinese Premier Li Qiang set a 5% growth target for 2024 before delegates of the National People's Congress meeting in an annual plenary session in Beijing this week.
A road map similar to last year, while the Chinese economy faces many challenges.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang presents his work report during the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 5, 2024. AFP - PEDRO PARDO
By: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
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With our correspondent in Beijing,
The 3,000 ANP delegates are standing in the Great Hall of the People and rhythmically applauding the arrival of the Chinese president and members of the party's central committee.
A warm welcome which contrasts with the gray snow which falls on Tiananmen Square.
The Prime Minister then moves towards the lectern for the traditional presentation of the government's work report.
Also read: China is counting on growth of 5% in 2024: enough to get out of the crisis?
Stimulate consumption
This is one of the worst targets for China in decades: 5% growth.
All
China
observers have been talking about it for several days.
And yet the bar is high when we know that the objectives of the previous year were not all achieved.
Li Qiang recognizes the challenges of the moment:
"it is not easy for us to achieve these objectives (...) which correspond to our needs and our possibilities",
he said before announcing a promotion of talents in the high-tech, the removal of barriers to investment and the stimulation of domestic demand.
“We need to promote stable consumption growth by using comprehensive measures such as increasing income, optimizing supply and reducing restrictive measures to boost consumption potential,
” says Li Qiang.
This
via “new growth points such as smart homes, entertainment and tourism, sports and domestically manufactured products.
»
Stock markets falling
Use the strength of Chinese innovation and products, particularly electric cars, to revive the world's second-largest economy.
Faced with debt problems, Li Qiang also asserts that the central state and provincial governments will have to “tighten their belts”.
It recalls the objectives of the fight against formalism and bureaucracy already mentioned many times.
Among the other announcements, the creation of 12 million jobs, an unemployment rate of 5.5%, a maintenance of cereal production at 650 million tonnes and a drop of around 2.5% in consumption of energy.
The head of the Chinese State Council was especially expected on measures to support the economy weighed down by the real estate crisis, rising youth unemployment, a fall in exports and deflation.
Announcements of fiscal stimulus apparently deemed insufficient according to the markets, declining in Hong Kong and on the continent.
Increase in the military budget
Gathering in a corridor on the second floor of the Great Palace of the People: the Prime Minister's speech is not finished, some of the journalists are scrambling to collect white booklets spread out on a large table.
These documents are theoretically “reserved for diplomats”.
The texts of speeches and government reports are published in different languages, including French.
One of the most popular is the
“report on the execution of the central budget and local budgets for 2023 and forecasts for 2024.”
The leaves turn at full speed.
It's here !
At the bottom of page 36 of the French version, we learn that the Chinese defense budget will increase by 7.2% this year.
This is the largest increase in five years, in a context of tension with the United States, but above all of a major cleaning up within the “rocket force”.
The purge brought down the defense minister last year.
Xi Jinping has set the date for the end of the modernization of the People's Liberation Army at 2027, Bloomberg recalls.
China will spend $231 billion on military spending this year, compared to $886 billion for the United States.
Also read: Annual session of the Chinese Parliament: “The Chinese economy is today in increased difficulty”
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