Prime Minister Li: China is Confident in Achieving This Year's GDP Growth Target and Future Economic Outlook

Forex - The Chinese Prime Minister reiterated that the country is expected to achieve its economic growth target of “around 5%” this year, given the positive momentum stemming from Beijing's recent financial and monetary policies.

In a speech at the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo, Premier Li Qiang stated, “China is confident in reaching its GDP growth target for this year and its future economic outlook.”

He also added that “the Chinese economy still has strong fundamentals,” following the positive reactions to the aggressive stimulus measures introduced by the country at the end of September.

At the end of September, Chinese policymakers announced the most aggressive stimulus package since the pandemic to boost market confidence in the country’s economic outlook.

These measures helped to revive the stock markets at the beginning of October, but a subsequent press conference by the Ministry of Finance disappointed the market as it did not provide details on the upcoming financial support.

Investors are now looking to this week’s NPC meeting for announcements regarding further stimulus, focusing on the government's financial package. The results are expected to be announced on Friday.

However, economists do not anticipate a large amount of stimulus from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Economists at Barclays, led by Jian Chang, stated that the stimulus is likely to be gradual and will focus on reducing economic risks and establishing a floor for growth.

They point to areas such as local government debt swaps, capital injections into major banks, and the expanded use of special local government bonds to stabilize the real estate sector, which have been mentioned by officials in the past.