Economy on right track to meet target

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Despite seasonal weakening, the Chinese economy is on the right track to meet this year's target, given adequate policy room and steady progress in economic restructuring, officials and experts said.

In April, China's economic activity met its cooling season from March, partly due to short-term factors, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Fixed-asset investment expanded by 6.1% year-on-year in the first four months, down by 0.2 percentage points from January-March period, but up 0.2 percentage points for the whole year of 2018, the NBS said.

Industrial output grew 5.4% in April as against 8.5% a month earlier, as enterprises produced more in March to reap the benefits of value-added tax cuts starting from April 1, said Liu Aihua, spokeswoman for the NBS.

Retail sales increased by 7.2% in April as against 8.7% in March.

The urban employment situation improved in April, with the surveyed jobless rate in urban areas standing at 5% as against 5.2% in March.

"The economy remained steady overall with improving momentum in April," Liu said, while cautioning that the external environment remains complicated and that unstable and uncertain factors are on the rise.

But Liu said she was confident about China's growth prospects, citing strong resilience of the economy.

The current relatively low inflation and fiscal deficit levels, as well as ample foreign reserves, have offered "relatively large room" for macro policies to offset external uncertainties, Liu said.

Tang Yao, an associate professor from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, said this year's policy stabilization efforts are expected to help China withstand the lingering trade tensions and achieve this year's goal of economic growth and employment.

"There is no need to pay too much attention to monthly fluctuations in economic indicators, as seasonal and random factors often overblow actual changes in fundamentals," Tang said.

China has set this year's GDP growth target at between 6% and 6.5%, while keeping the unemployment rate in urban areas at about 5.5%. The economy recorded a 6.4% GDP growth in the first quarter.

"The first quarter's stable economic development has laid a solid foundation for annual growth. We have the confidence, conditions and capability to meet the projected targets for economic and social development this year," said Yuan Da, spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, in April.

Yang Weiyong, an associate professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said China should continue focusing on revitalizing the private sector through reforms.

"With these reforms bearing fruit, I believe the Chinese economy has very bright growth prospects, both in the short and long term," Yang said.

Industrial output of private enterprises grew by 9.1% year-on-year in the January-April period, 2.9 percentage points faster than the whole industry sector and 2.4 percentage points faster than the same period last year, the NBS data showed.

Other signs of improving economic restructure also emerged, with high-tech manufacturing output eclipsing the whole industry sector with a 11.2% year-on-year growth in April, up 1.2 percentage points from March.