BEIJING, China: Announcing his maiden work report at the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress this week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang unveiled an ambitious 2024 economic growth target of around five percent.

He also pledged to transform China’s development model, counter risks caused by bankrupt property developers and indebted cities, promised higher defense spending, and hardened Beijing’s rhetoric against Taiwan.

Despite Li pledging bold new policies, Beijing has indicated that it is prioritizing growth over any reforms by setting a growth target at the same level as 2023, which will be harder to achieve amid a slowing post-COVID-19 recovery.

Tao Chuan, chief macro analyst at Soochow Securities, said, “It is more difficult to achieve five percent this year than last year because the base number has become higher, indicating that the top leaders are committed to supporting economic growth.”

Last year’s uneven growth laid bare China’s deep structural imbalances, from weak household consumption to increasingly lower returns on investment, prompting calls for a new growth model.

In 2024, China began the year with an ongoing property crisis and local government debt woes, increasing pressure on Beijing to draft new and innovative economic policies.

China’s fading economic miracle has also drawn comparisons with Japan’s lost decades since the 1990s.

“We should not lose sight of worst-case scenarios. We must push ahead with transforming the growth model, making structural adjustments, improving quality, and enhancing performance,” Li said in the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square.

Reaching the target will not be easy, and a proactive fiscal stance and prudent monetary policy was needed, he added.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts China’s economic growth in 2024 at 4.6 percent, dropping further towards 3.5 percent in 2028.