China sees 7% growth floor with reforms

Beijing

CHINESE authorities will cut interest rates, increase liquidity and tolerate some currency weakness to ensure the economy grows around 7 per cent this year, as they try to head off deflation and keep employment strong enough to push on with reforms, policy insiders say.

Expansion of around 7 per cent - expected to be unveiled as the official 2015 target when Parliament meets next month - is seen as the minimum needed to stop unemployment from rising: a key political goal as the leadership gets people accustomed to a "new normal" of slower but more sustainable growth.