Coronavirus: China’s premier shrugs off likely first quarter economic growth contraction as ‘not a big deal’

China was expected to announce its 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of ‘around 6 per cent’ at National People’s Congress before it was postponed

Premier Li Keqiang says China is now focused on stabilising employment with analysts predicting China’s first economic contraction since 1976 in the first quarter

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It is believed China needs to meet an economic growth target of 5.6 per cent this year to meet President Xi Jinping’s goal of building a “comprehensively well-off” society by 2020. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:15pm, 13 Mar 2020Updated: 2:06pm, 16 Mar 2020

China should focus on maintaining employment amid the coronavirus pandemic, with its economic growth rate for 2020 “not a big deal”, according to Premier Li Keqiang.

Unlike the rest of the world, China appears to be bringing the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus under control, although it has already caused significant damage to its economy, which could now contract for the first time since 1976.

It is believed Beijing was aiming for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth target “around 6 per cent” this year, although that is now likely be missed because of the virus outbreak.

“It’s not a big deal whether the economic growth rate is bit higher or lower” this year, as long as China’s job market is stable, Li told China’s cabinet this week, according to a government statement released on Thursday.

We must try our best to stabilise employment … all departments must place jobs as the top priority when considering their work this year

Li Keqiang

“We must try our best to stabilise employment … all departments must place jobs as the top priority when considering their work this year.”

Premier Li would normally have announced China’s GDP growth target for 2020 at the annual National People’s Congress, the country’s parliament, on March 5, but that has been postponed indefinitely due to the virus.