China should set growth target of around 5% for 2021-2025: think tank economist

[BENGALURU] China should set an average annual economic growth target of around 5 per cent for the 2021-2025 period, a senior economist at a Chinese state think tank said on Tuesday, in line with a Reuters report.

China's potential growth rate should be 5-6 per cent during the 14th five-year plan (2021-2025) period, but the authorities should consider rising economic volatility caused by the Covid-19, Li Xuesong, deputy director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told a news briefing in Beijing.

"We suggest that China should set an average annual growth target of around 5 per cent, which is appropriate," Mr Li said.

China's economy could grow 2-3 per cent this year and growth could rebound in 2021 to a "relatively high level" but slow again the following year, Mr Li said.

Policy sources told Reuters earlier in November that Beijing was close to setting an average annual economic growth target of around 5 per cent for the next five years.

REUTERS