China can accept slightly lower GDP growth as long as employment stable: official

[BEIJING] China can accept slightly lower economic growth as long as employment remains stable and incomes continue to rise, said a senior official of the country's cabinet research unit on Wednesday.

China's policy support for the economy is appropriate and there is no plan to implement strong stimulus, Huang Shouhong, deputy director of the State Council Research Office, said at a press briefing in Beijing.

China's leaders have set an economic growth target of 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent for 2016, compared with 6.9 per cent last year, the country's slowest expansion in a quarter of a century.

The government still has many policy tools at its disposal and will step up policy support for the economy if growth slips below a reasonable bottom line, Mr Huang said.

REUTERS