Thousands of Chinese officials gathered in Beijing for the opening session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), where delegates approve the country’s economic and political roadmap for the next five years.
China has set a gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent by 2026, according to a government report reviewed by the state’s official Xinhua news agency on Thursday, down from the recent target of “around 5 percent.”
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The reduced growth figure reflects China’s economic slowdown, caused in part by the collapse of the country’s real estate sector, which once accounted for 25 to 30 percent of GDP.
“The growth target is quite realistic,” said The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Chinese economist Tianchen Xu, noting that the figure reflects China’s trend toward more conservative expectations.
“It’s a new shift from a ‘number first’ mentality to a ‘quality first’ mentality,” Xu told Reuters news agency.
“Beijing does not necessarily view high growth rates as a good thing, because they can incentivize local officials to exaggerate growth with white elephant projects and data manipulation,” Xu said.
“It’s about achieving more tangible economic outcomes, such as growth in household income and greater access to public services,” Xu added.
China also aims to expand defense spending by 7 percent, the lowest rate in five years, according to Reuters, although higher than the rest of the region.
Facing a long-term economic slowdown, China is trying to transition from an economy driven by manufacturing and exports to one driven by consumption and cutting-edge technology. It also points to greater industrial self-sufficiency in the face of political headwinds in the United States.
Other current challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy include deflationary pressure, weak consumer confidence, high youth unemployment and the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade war.
‘Pro-childbirth society’
Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s annual government work report, delivered at the NPC on Thursday, showed China’s GDP grew 5 percent to 140.19 trillion renminbi (RMB) ($20.28 trillion) last year.
The extensive report also details other goals, such as China’s plans for its fiscal stimulus by 2026, including a target of around RMB 30 trillion ($4.3 trillion) in public spending, according to Xinhua.
China will continue state support for advanced industries such as “integrated circuits, aviation and aerospace, biomedicine and low-altitude economy,” the working report says, referring to the use of drone technology in everything from logistics to agriculture and emergency services.
Officials have reportedly begun to address the problem of “involution,” or excessive competition between domestic companies, which often leads to overproduction and low-quality products.
The working report also addressed how China plans to address social and environmental issues, such as its declining population, caused by its aging society, the falling birth rate, and the long-term impact of its now-abandoned one-child policy.
China aims to become a “childbirth-friendly society,” Xinhua reports, and the country aims to expand services for its growing population of people over 60.
It also aims to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 as it transitions to more renewable energy sources from coal and other fossil fuels, according to the report.
The NPC is held in Beijing alongside the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an independent advisory body to the country’s leaders that submits comments and proposals for future legislation.
Together, the NPC and the CPPCC are known as the “Two Sessions.”
The biggest event of the week will be the release of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which will outline its medium-term development goals for 2026 to 2030. China aims to double its 2020 GDP per capita by 2035 to become a “moderately developed” economy, according to Xinhua.
