CRI听力: Local Governments Lower GDP Goal

It now appears local governments here in China are starting reconsider the goals they set for GDP.

As our Wang Jing tells us, some local economic plans have now set lower growth targets, while at the same time, a number of local authorities are now promising to increase incomes.

GDP growth has been pursued by local governments.

Last year a total of 28 provinces reported higher than that set by the central government.

That growth model is being challenged by many economists as unbalanced, with too great a reliance on investment and exports, and too little contribution from domestic consumption.

East China's Jiangsu, the country's second largest provincial economy after Guangdong, has decided to slow down its growth for this year.

Its growth target this year is now 10 percent, lower than last year's 13.5 percent.

Mayor Wang Jianfeng from Taicang city in Jiangsu says this is to leave room for economic structural shift.

"GDP growth was at around 13 percent during the 11th five year plan, and now, a lower goal of growth gives room for future structural shifts. As a better-off city in the province, we took the structural shift into account before making up the development goal for the next five years."

The province says it also aims to double the income of locals within the next seven years.

Meanwhile, Beijing aims to increase people's income by an annual two percentage points in the next five years while lowering economic growth by one percentage point during the same period.

Professor Yuan Gangming from Tsinghua University says China's economic growth now needs more attention paid to distribution.

"China's economy has entered a new stage. The economy grew at quickly in the previous stage, but in terms of income individuals didn't notice any change. In some areas of high economic growth rising property prices and living expenses piled enormous pressure on the general public. The next step is not going to be about stopping development. Rather it will be more about distribution and things that are related to people's lives."

Official data shows China's GDP growth jumped 10.3% last year to top 5.88 trillion US dollars, becoming the world's second largest economy, but China's per capita income has been left far behind. It is less than one tenth of the United States.

For CRI, I'm Wang Jing.