Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Sunday outlined a cautious economic growth target of around eight percent for this year, and 7.5 percent until 2010, while urging consumers to spend more.
The objectives, looking modest against average expansion of 9.4 percent over the past quarter century, underlined a plea by Wen to do more to correct imbalances that have resulted from years of breakneck growth.
"We need to... refrain from taking on more than we can handle, and achieve concrete results," Wen told nearly 3,000 lawmakers assembled for the annual full session of the National People's Congress, or parliament.
China posted growth of 9.9 percent in 2005, maintaining its status as the world's fastest growing major economy, but the apparent success disguises major problems that, if left unattended, could cause society to implode.
The government is under mounting pressure to bring about economic growth to absorb redundant labour, many of them laid off from inefficient state enterprises, and Wen said it hopes to this year create nine million more jobs.
But while growth is a priority, the government is increasingly aware that too much of it has been driven by government-funded investment, and too little by consumers.
Hundreds of millions of Chinese are reluctant spenders, preferring to put their money in the bank, because they worry about the future in a society where cradle-to-grave welfare is now a thing of the past.
"We will address people's concerns that increasing consumption will make them unable later to meet basic living needs," Wen said.
The government will do this by accelerating efforts to improve social security, and make access to education, medical care and housing easier for more people, he said.
Even while encouraging more consumer spending, the government will try to keep consumer price inflation below three percent this year, he said.
While Wen and his colleagues hope to see more Chinese hit the shopping malls and restaurants, they would like less frantic activity on the nation's construction sites.
"Investment in some industries is increasing too quickly, and too many new projects have been launched," he said.
Partly as a result of slower investment growth, the government expects a slight decrease in its budget deficit in 2006, he said.
The deficit in the central government budget is projected to be 295 billion yuan (36 billion dollars), five billion yuan less than last year, he said. The Chinese government has been in the red for several years, triggering warnings among economists that the trend is unsustainable in the long term.
Wen also told parliament the government planned to issue 60 billion yuan worth of long-term treasury bonds in 2006, 20 billion yuan less than last year.
The proceeds from the sale will be used partly to maintain projects already underway, and partly on new projects in fields such as agriculture, education and health, he said.
Turning to an issue of immense interest to China's trading partners, Wen said the government would keep the currency, the yuan or renminbi, "basically stable" in 2006, he said. "We will improve the system of managed floating foreign currency exchange rates and keep the renminbi exchange rate basically stable at an appropriate and balanced level," he said.
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