China's pres.: 6.5% growth enough to meet country’s goals

China’s President Xi Jinping says and annual growth rate of 6.5 percent is enough to meet the country’s goals, sending a clear signal that the world's second-largest economy is to lower its growth target.

Xi, however, added on Tuesday that the annual growth should not be less than 6.5 percent in 2016-2020 period because it is imperative if the country is expected to double its gross domestic product (GDP) and incomes compared to 2010 by the end of the current decade, AFP reported.

"In the next five years, China's development should not just be focused on growth pace, but also growth volume, and, more importantly, growth quality," he said.

China's economic boom, which has been going on for decades, has given the country a crucial role in the global economy, but the growth is now sputtering with global repercussions.

Xi’s comments have been construed by experts as the clearest indication that Beijing is bent on reducing its target growth rate from the current figure, which stands around 7 percent.

Economists believe that maintaining the current figure will be unattainable in the future, and trying to achieve it would risk derailing the country’s market reforms.

Xi's comments also came at a time that the ruling party issued guidelines related to the country’s next five-year plan.

The Five Year Plan is China's 13th since the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Asked about a 6.5-percent growth target, Xu Shaoshi, chairman of China's top planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, said the ruling party has decided to "maintain medium to high-speed economic growth during the 13th five-year plan" to meet the doubling target.

The official, however, added, "Of course, speed is not the only thing we care about. Actually we are more concerned about indicators such as employment, residents' income and prices."

"The 6.5-percent growth target is achievable as per capita income is still low in China and there's still much potential for growth," Liu Ligang, chief economist for Greater China with ANZ Banking Group, told AFP, adding, "But structural problems will pose a difficulty for China's growth, including the heavy debt of corporations and local governments."

China has been facing economic difficulties in recent months as the country’s economy is going through transition from years of super-charged growth to a more modest pace, which Chinese officials call the "new normal."

Botched interventions in the stock market by the government and a sudden devaluation of the country’s national currency have lowered confidence in the country’s economic stability.

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