Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets the press via video link after the closing of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2022. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang elaborated on what the government of the second largest economy is going to offer this year in its policy toolbox to maintain the country's status as the world economic locomotive, as he expressed confidence in hitting this year's growth target despite headwinds in a press conference on Friday.   

The premier's press conference, often considered a highlight activity which marks the end of the annual two sessions and an important channel through which overseas media communicate with Chinese officials, is a highly anticipated occasion this year, as the world is curious about how China is going to navigate the economic development in the face of multi-faceted challenges from abroad and at home.

On top of old "wounds," such as cooling China-US relations and coronavirus disruptions, the country is now facing new challenges, such as fallout from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, and a jump in oil prices. 

During the press conference, Premier Li answered 13 questions, touching on various economic questions such as this year's GDP target, employment, common prosperity and tax cuts. 

Due to the regulations of epidemic prevention, journalists from Chinese and foreign media outlets still need to ask their questions to the premier via video link, but this hasn't reduced their passion to ask questions at the event, as it was the last press conference of Premier Li in his term. 

On Friday morning, about 100 journalists arrived at the Media Center hours ahead of the press conference to get prepared for reporting the significant event. 

After the premier finished answering the last question, journalists gave a round of applause, and some foreign journalists at the press conference told the Global Times that they were impressed by Li's answers on so many questions related to international hot spot issues and China's domestic affairs and economic development, and China has done a great job in developing and opening-up, and protecting its people in the past ten years, especially under the coronavirus. 

"My impression of Premier Li's replies is pragmatic, confident and people-oriented," Bo Wenxi, chief economist at wealth management firm IPG China, told the Global Times on Friday. 

China sets 2022 GDP growth target at around 5.5 pct

A note of confidence 

Li's reply to the first question, also a general tone of the press conference, explained why the government set the goal of around 5.5 percent this year and how the government is planning to achieve that goal. 

China set an economic goal of over 6 percent last year, but its actual growth largely surpassed that target at 8.1 percent in 2021. 

Li's explanation also came at a time when overseas media have raised many doubts about China's GDP target this year, including emphasizing that the goal is the lowest in decades and forecasting that China can't make it happen because of new challenges. 

Li stressed the GDP target's feasibility, as he used a metaphor of mountain climbing to illustrate that growth is more difficult with China's burgeoning economic size and new economic challenges. 

"A growth rate of about 5.5 percent is high-standard stability, which is an improvement. It's not easy to achieve, and has to be supported by relevant macro-economic policies," Li said. 

The 5.5 percent growth this year means an incremental economic output of more than 100 trillion yuan ($15.78 trillion), which is equivalent to the economy of a medium-sized country, he said.  

Li's explanation is a reflection of Chinese policymakers' confidence in China's economic resilience and ability to fight setbacks, supported by China's market scale and industrial structure, Bo said. 

"It shows Li's confidence that disruption of unstable factors on China's economy will be relatively small, although he also expressed a certain level of caution," Bo told the Global Times on Friday. 

Some foreign institutions also expressed appreciation over China's setting of the 5.5 percent goal, as they said that China's "slowing down" in economic objectives will prevent challenges in the current economic context with high uncertainties, including inflation, public deficit and unemployment. 

"2022 is a year that China's economy is coming back to fundamentals... we have seen the need for pragmatic and agile steering of the Chinese economic system in 2022 while keeping the medium to long term direction set in the five-year plan," Denis Depoux, Roland Berger's global managing director, told the Global Times. 

Economic numbers highlighted at Premier Li's press conference Editor: Yang Ruoyu/GT Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT

Toolbox to support growth 

In further elaboration on how China plans to achieve its economic goals, Premier Li disclosed a number of measures that China is ready to take this year. For example, the country will stick to tax cuts and fee reductions, which have proven to be the most effective policy in recent years, he said. In particular, China will return retained taxes to micro enterprises by the end of June. 

In terms of employment, Li said that China needs new job platforms, while the government will give support, like providing training services to new laborers. The government will also improve policies to solve issues like social security and labor rights for "flexible employees," like delivery people. 

Experts like Bo are confident that China's policy toolbox, which has proven to show enough strength and timely adjustments in the past year, is enough to help China achieve steady economic growth amid economic challenges in 2022. 

Zhou Maohua, a macro economic analyst at Everbright Bank, said that China's macro policies this year will remain consistent with last year, in areas like supporting micro enterprises, stimulating consumption recovery and supporting overseas trade. But the policies will also have some fine-tuning, such as increasing supportive strength for services industries and infrastructure. 

Premier Li also signaled certain policy adjustments. For example, he disclosed that the government will consider increasing the strength of tax reimbursements if the effects of existing policies are good.

The sufficient external policy toolbox and internal economic dynamics of the Chinese market are pushing economists to hold optimistic views and high anticipation for the prospects of China achieving steady growth and maintaining the world economic engine this year. 

"There is certainty amid uncertainties, that China has many 'bullets' -- economic tools, resources, political wisdom -- to achieve steady economic growth, not to mention that many other regions have problems, like US inflation and Europe's loss of a sense of security. China's opportunity space is larger than any other region in the world," Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, told the Global Times. 

He also noted that because of the geo-political situations, more capital could flow from overseas markets to China this year. 

A view of a job fair for college students in an exhibition center in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province on October 10, 2021 Photo: cnsphoto

People-centered mind-set  

Experts also said that Premier Li's replies have shown a mindset of being "people-centered" in designing economic policies, as not only did he answer many livelihood questions, mentioned the phrase "people's livelihood" more than 10 times, but he also stressed that China will design economic policies based on the needs of livelihood.

For example, when explaining employment supportive policies, Li emphasized that fiscal and monetary policies must be carried out "surrounding" the achievement of employment target. 

He said that authorities will strengthen management in areas involving people's lives, health and interests, like food, medicine, safety production and finance. The government will also improve management methods along with the changes of new economic models, in order to ensure fair market competition.

According to Bo, this year's economic policy formulation and direction are more "pragmatic", as economic growth is ultimately supported by people's demands.