Local govts lower growth targets to make transition easier

[Photo/IC]

More local governments in China are seeking to slash growth targets this year to lubricate economic transition amid increasing downward pressure, The Beijing News reported on Wednesday.

To date, 16 provinces and municipalities in the country, including Beijing, Zhejiang and Guangdong, have announced lower GDP growth targets during the local "two sessions" - an annual event set to outline their full-year economic blueprints.

Lowering targets is a wise choice for local governments to deepen reforms as the entire economy is going to face severe challenges this year, said the report citing Liu Yuanchun, head of the School of Economics at Renmin University.

Meanwhile, eight local governments have maintained the same prospects as last year's, including Chongqing municipality that has set 10 percent target for 2016 - the only one that continues to aim a double-digit growth this year.

The country's northeastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, among others which have set a "reasonable range" for their growth this year, have slightly tuned up their targets from a year earlier.

Reasonable range of GDP growth allows more leeway for economic transition and restructuring such as cutting excess industrial capacity, said Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications.

China's economic growth hit 25-year low of 6.9 percent in 2015, according to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The country will announce its national target at the two sessions in March.