China ‘fully confident’ of hitting 5% growth target despite trade war

China is “fully confident” that it will achieve its target of about 5 per cent economic growth this year despite an escalating trade war with the United States, a senior official at the country’s top planning bureau told a press conference on Monday. “We still have ample policy reserves and plenty of policy space,” said Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the country’s top economic planner National Development and Reform Commission. “No matter how the international situation evolves, we will stay focused on our development goals .

.. and concentrate on managing our own affairs well.



We are fully confident in achieving this year’s economic and social development targets.” The comments come amid an unprecedented trade war between the world’s two largest economies, after weeks of rapid-fire tit-for-tat tariff hikes that saw both sides raise duties on each other’s goods by more than 120 per cent. The rising trade barriers have intensified external headwinds for the Chinese economy and raised concerns over whether Beijing will be able to meet its annual growth targets, after a solid first quarter that saw gross domestic product rise by 5.

4 per cent. Zhao pledged that Beijing would take a range of measures to shore up the economy, including beefing up efforts to stabilise employment by encouraging companies to maintain stable hiring, stepping up vocational skills training, expanding support measures such as employment through public works programmes, and strengthening public employment services..