Official rebuffs ‘groundless’ foreign media reports of economic hard landing
An official from a Chinese economic planner has said that foreign media's reporting of a Chinese economy hard landing is "groundless," citing robust travelling data from the National Day holidays, and data on power consumption and cargo transport from the first three quarters of 2019.
During the week-long holidays this year, the country's railways, roads, waterways and civil aviation network transported more than 500 million passenger trips. The national railway's passenger traffic reached 17.13 million on October 1 alone, a record high, Yuan Da, spokesperson of National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference in Beijing on Monday.
In the first three quarters of the year, power consumption rose by 4.4 percent; power consumption increased by 8.7 percent in the service industry and freight volume increased by 5.9 percent, of which railway freight volume increased by 6.1 percent, Yuan added.
"These data are the most direct reflection of economic growth and can fully support the overall stable judgment of China's economy," Yuan said.
However, Yuan noted that the Chinese economy still faces challenges, but "we have the ability and confidence to realize a stable economic development."
The National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's GDP grew 6.0 percent in the third quarter of 2019, touching a 27-year low.
Yet the number is still within the annual target growth range set by policymakers, which is between 6.0 and 6.5 percent for the full year.
Although the economic growth rate in the third quarter has slowed slightly, the quality of development continues to increase, Yuan said.
For example, the added value of high-tech manufacturing increased by 8.7 percent, rising significantly faster than the growth rate of all industries above designated size. The number of newly added jobs in cities and towns nationwide was 10.97 million, meeting annual targets. Per capita disposable income of national residents increased by 6.1 percent, basically in line with economic growth, he explained.
"A drop or rise in the economic growth rate is acceptable as long as employment expands and residents' income increases." Yuan said.
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