Chinese Premier Li Keqiang acknowledged that epidemic prevention measures are affecting the Chinese economy in an unprecedented way since the start of the pandemic, calling for employment to be taken into account.
During a video conference organized by the State Council on Wednesday night, Li admitted that “the difficulties in March and April were, in some respects, more severe than in 2020,” when the Covid-19 pandemic began, according to the official. Xinhua. news agency.
The Prime Minister cited as an example the falls in indicators such as employment, industrial production, energy consumption and freight transport.
Li called on tens of thousands of government officials to make “efforts to keep the economy operating at a proper level.”
Li Keqiang’s comments underscore the difficulties China will face in meeting its annual growth target of 5.5%, one of the lowest in decades, as it battles outbreaks caused by Omicron, a highly contagious variant. of the new coronavirus.
The last time the Chinese economy contracted was in the first quarter of 2020, when it fell by 6.9%.year after year, ending an era of more than 30 years of uninterrupted growth.
China’s foreign trade registered a similar increase of 0.1% last April, a significant slowdown compared to the growth of 5.8% registered in March.
In the first quarter of the year, the Chinese economy grew by 4.8%, but retail sales contracted by 3.5% year-on-year, and the official unemployment rate in urban areas reached the worst mark of the last 22 months: 5.8%. Unemployment among workers aged 16 to 24 reached a record rate of 18.2%.
“We will try to make sure the economy grows in the second quarter,” Li said., according to a transcript of the speech to which the Financial Times newspaper had access. “This is not a high target and it is a long way from the 5.5% target. But we have to make it happen,” he noted.
The prolonged lockdown of Shanghai, the financial “capital” of China, in the last two months, could worsen the country’s economic data.
Li stressed the need to implement policies as soon as possible to stabilize the economy and support the market and employment and secure people’s livelihood.
“oh development is the key to solve all of China’s problems,” he recalled.
The prime minister ordered government entities to implement the 33 measures recently approved by the State Council to stabilize the economy by the end of May.
The State Council will send working groups to 12 provinces, starting today, to monitor the work of local authorities in implementing the measures.
“Local governments must treat businesses equally, continue improve logistics services and industrial chainsto allow production to resume and ensure prompt distribution of social benefits to people in need,” Li said.
Source: Observadora
