China drops GDP outlook, COVID-19 drags economy

China axed its annual growth outlook for the first time on Friday. It pledged to render larger volumes of government spending as the coronavirus crisis drags the world’s second-largest economy, bringing a dull mood to this year’s parliament meeting.

China’s economy had recorded a total of 6.8% contraction rate in the first quarter. The decline came to be the country’s first downturn in decades as the virus crisis continues to bring economic disruptions.

This prompted the country to lower its outlook for this year. This is the first time China opted out from setting a specific target for gross domestic product (GDP) since the government started setting outlook back in 1990. More so, Premier Li Kegiang warned about disrupted domestic consumption, slump in investment and external demands, unemployment surge, and financial risks.

Li’s report showed that the country plans to provide 9 million jobs this 2020. The count was heavily curtailed from the initial goal of at least 11 million in 2019. This also came to be the smallest since 2013.