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19:07, 11-Jan-2018
Chinese Premier Li: China’s 2017 GDP growth expected around 6.9%
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday that China’s GDP growth in 2017 is expected to be around 6.9 percent, noting the Chinese economy developed “better than expected” in the past year.
Official data for 2017 GDP growth will be unveiled next week but Li gave his forecast when addressing the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in Phnom Penh.
"In the past year, the Chinese economy kept a stable and favorable development momentum,” Li said, noting China has benefited from good surroundings and contributed to local economic growth.
Li’s figure beat the government’s 6.5-percent growth target as well as 6.8-percent forecast by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The Chinese economy grew by 6.7 percent in 2016 but rebounded to 6.8 percent growth for the first three quarters of 2017, according to official data.
In 2017, China’s unemployment rate dropped to the lowest rate in years and overall improvement has been made on trade, fiscal revenue, residents’ income and enterprise profitability, Li said.
The positive performance was due to China refraining from “flooding” the economy with strong stimulus, promoting supply-side reforms and developing new growth momentum, according to Premier Li.