China is still on track to hit its growth target, Premier Li Qiang says

BEIJING — Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday his country was still on track to reach its annual growth target of around 5%.

He said growth in the second quarter was expected to be faster than it was in the first.

Li was speaking at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions.

The conference will run from Tuesday to Thursday in Tianjin, China. This year’s gathering marks the first time since the pandemic that the World Economic Forum’s annual China conference is being held in person.

Li became premier in March, following a twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle in October that packed the core team with loyalists of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Earlier this year, Liu He, then a vice premier, spoke at the World Economic Forum’s annual event in Davos, Switzerland.

In that speech, Liu said “high-quality economic development must always be [China’s] goal,” and that the country would focus more on attracting foreign investment.

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