BEIJING—Chinese economic officials expressed confidence Monday they can meet this year’s growth target of “around 5 percent” by generating 12 million new jobs and encouraging consumer spending following the end of anti-virus controls that kept millions of people at home.
“There are many policy tools in our toolbox,” the deputy chairman of the National Reform and Development Commission, Li Chunlin, said at a news conference held during the meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature. The NDRC chairman, Zhao Chenxin, said the priority is to “release consumption potential” and promote an “innovation-driven development strategy.”
That will add to pressure on Chinese export industries that support millions of jobs, increasing the importance of self-sustaining business activity at home.