China’s top economic planner: ‘hard landing’ impossible

Xu Shaoshi, director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, listens to a question at a press conference in Beijing, Sunday, March 6, 2016. China’s top economic planning official Xu says any prediction that China’s economy should have a hard landing is doomed to fail, and he assures the world that China will continue to contribute to, rather than to hurt, the global economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Xu Shaoshi, director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, listens to a question at a press conference in Beijing, Sunday, March 6, 2016. China’s top economic planning official Xu says any prediction that China’s economy should have a hard landing is doomed to fail, and he assures the world that China will continue to contribute to, rather than to hurt, the global economy. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

By Associated Press March 5, 2016 1 min read

BEIJING (AP) – China’s top economic planning official says it is impossible that the Chinese economy would have a “hard landing” – or a sharp slowdown – and offered assurances that it would continue to contribute to global growth, not hinder it.

Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference Sunday that China’s economy has inner flexibility and abilities to resist risks.

Last year, growth slowed to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent. On Saturday, Premier Li Keqiang said in a report to the annual National People’s Congress that authorities set a growth target of 6.5 to 7 percent for this year.

Xu said China’s leadership is “completely capability to run China’s economy within a reasonable range” and “is fully confident about the prospects of development.”