BEIJING (AP) – China has cut this year’s growth target for its slowing economy to 6.5 to 7 percent and promised to press ahead with painful reforms aimed at boosting productivity and incomes.
The target announced Saturday at the opening of China’s national legislature is down from last year’s “about 7 percent” and the minimum President Xi Jinping has said is needed to make the country prosperous.
China’s economy has cooled steadily as the ruling Communist Party tries to replace a worn-out model based on trade and investment with self-sustaining growth driven by domestic consumption.
Economic growth declined last year to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent and is forecast to slow more this year.
The government also promised to push ahead reforms aimed at making the state-dominated economy more productive.