Beijing, March 5 (BNA): The Chinese government announced plans to revive the faltering consumer-led economy as the legislature opened a session that would tighten President Xi Jinping’s control over business and society.
Premier Li Keqiang, the top economic official, set the growth target for this year at around 5% after the end of anti-virus controls that kept millions of people at home and sparked protests. Growth last year in the world’s second-largest economy fell to 3%, the second-weakest level since at least the 1970s.
“We must give priority to the recovery and expansion of consumption,” Li said in a speech on the government’s plans to the National People’s Congress in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The full meeting of the 2,977 National People’s Congress is the highlight of the year, but its work is limited to endorsing decisions made by the ruling Communist Party and presenting official initiatives.
Separately, the Finance Ministry announced a 7.2% increase in the budget for the military wing of the ruling party, the People’s Liberation Army, to 1.55 trillion yuan ($224 billion), the 29th consecutive annual increase. China’s military spending is the second highest in the world after the United States. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says the two countries together account for half of global military expenditures.
Lee’s report called for boosting consumer spending by increasing household income, but gave no details in his unusually brief 53-minute speech. It was less than half the length of Action Reports in some previous years.
The premier called for “building our country’s strength and self-reliance in science and technology,” an area where Beijing’s state-led efforts to create competitors in electric cars, clean energy, telecoms and other areas have strained relations with Washington and others. business partners.
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