China’s No 1 priority is still GDP growth, senior economic official asserts, amid focus on ‘common prosperity’
- Comments from Han Wenxiu come amid worries that focus on high-quality development and ‘common prosperity’ could sideline growth priorities
- Han, 59, is expected to rise to a prominent role in the next Chinese leadership to be announced in March
China needs to regard development as the No 1 priority and ensure a “reasonable growth” of the national economy in a persistent way, a senior economic official said, outlining goals for the next five years.
Han, 59, is expected to rise to a prominent role in the next government line-up to be revealed when the national legislature convenes next spring.
His explanation indicated that regardless of domestic and external headwinds, the world’s second-largest economy will continue to highlight gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first year of President Xi Jinping’s third five-year term.
We must keep national economic growth within a reasonable range for a fairly long period so that the pie can get bigger, and people’s living standards can catch up with that of developed countries
“We must keep national economic growth within a reasonable range for a fairly long period so that the pie can get bigger, and people’s living standards can catch up with that of developed countries,” he wrote in an article included in Beijing’s official explanation of the guidelines released at the 20th party congress last month.
