Monitor | Beijing sets irreconcilable economic targets for 2014
Much needed reforms will slow down the economy, so a pledge of stable growth is at odds with priorities of tackling debt and overcapacity
Last week China's leaders met to set their economic policy goals for next year.
According to a statement issued late on Friday after the meeting's conclusion, Beijing's main policy objectives for 2014 will be to maintain output growth at a stable rate while implementing key economic reforms.
Unfortunately, these two aims - stable growth and structural reform - are mutually exclusive. China can have one or the other next year, but not both.
The official release did not put a number on Beijing's target for gross domestic product growth in 2014. That's likely to be announced at March's meeting of the National People's Congress (although it may well be leaked in advance).
However, the statement's emphasis on "stability and continuity in macroeconomic polices" hints that policymakers are aiming for growth of 7.5 per cent next year, the same target as they set for 2013.
At the same time, China's leaders stressed the need to press ahead with key reforms next year, pledging to "focus on debt risk prevention" and on "resolving the overcapacity problem".