China economic planning agency chairman says economic sentiment improving

[BEIJING] China's economy is slowing but not showing downward momentum, the chairman of China's top economic planning agency said on Thursday.

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Chairman Xu Shaoshi told a news briefing that economic sentiment is improving, though negative pressure remains.

China announced an economic growth target for 2015 of around 7 per cent on Thursday and said it would boost government spending, signalling that the lowest rate of expansion for a quarter of a century is the "new normal" for the world's second-largest economy.

REUTERS