China will meet economic targets: minister

BEIJING -- China has the confidence, conditions and capability to meet its new growth targets for 2014, top economic planner Xu Shaoshi said Wednesday.

China will meet the targets -- outlined in the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday -- of keeping GDP growth around 7.5 percent and inflation about 3.5 percent, said Xu, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference.

Reports about China's economic hard landing are just regular hype, Xu said, citing the fact that China maintained steady growth amid last year's global economic downturn as well as expectations that China's urbanization, industrialization, agricultural modernization and increasing use of computer networks will unleash strong growth momentum.

We have to look at the bigger picture of economic growth despite some economic growth indicators fluctuating due to seasonal factors in the first two months of the year, he added.

Continued reform, an innovation drive in all sectors and experiences in macroeconomic control ensure that China enjoys promising growth prospects, according to Xu.

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