Review of China's economy in 2018: Progress toward decisive victory

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Although facing a complicated and challenging domestic and international environment in 2018, China still accomplished its main targets for economic and social development with economy under new downward pressure, the annual government report said on Tuesday.

The main economic indicators were kept within an appropriate range, with GDP growing by 6.6 percent, exceeding 90 trillion yuan and consumer prices rising by 2.1 percent in 2018.

A further 13.61 million new urban jobs were added and the surveyed unemployment rate remained stable at a comparatively low level of around five percent.

Meanwhile, China has improved its economic structure with consumption increasingly important in driving economic growth. The service sector's contribution to growth approached 60 percent last year and the growth in high-tech industries and equipment manufacturing outstripped that of other industries.

These achievements did not come easily, the report said, noting China has faced profound changes in the external environment, including setbacks in economic globalization, challenges to multilateralism, shocks in the international financial market, and especially the China-U.S. economic and trade frictions, which had an adverse effect on production, business operations and expectations in certain sectors.

Under such circumstances, China intensified reform and opening-up comprehensively. The overall tariff level was reduced from 9.8 to 7.5 percent and the number of new foreign enterprises grew by nearly 70 percent last year, according to the report.

The country continued to pursue balanced regional development with major projects, with progress made in boosting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze Economic Belt, and especially the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.