3月5日上午，第十三届全国人民代表大会第四次会议在北京人民大会堂开幕。国务院总理李克强在政府工作报告中介绍，去年坚决打好三大攻坚战，主要目标任务如期完成，中国成为全球唯一实现正增长的主要经济体。对于今年发展的主要目标，李克强表示，国内生产总值要实现6%以上的增长。 China has set its GDP growth rate at over 6 percent for 2021 as its economic recovery gathers steam, and will devote full energy to promoting reform, innovation, and high-quality development, Premier Li Keqiang said Friday while delivering the report on the government's work at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress. "In 2021, China will continue to face many development risks and challenges, but the economic fundamentals that will sustain long-term growth remain unchanged," Li said, noting the country has confidence in its economic recovery. The government is forecasting the creation of over 11 million new urban jobs this year, with an unemployment rate under 5.5 percent. On inflation, it expects the Consumer Price Index to increase by around 3 percent as well as steady growth in personal income. A drop of around 3 percent in energy consumption per unit of GDP is projected, along with a further improvement in the environment. 为何今年GDP增速定为6%以上？ 全球翘首以待的中国今年GDP增速被定为6%以上，之前外界纷纷预测了更高数字，国际货币基金组织（IMF）预测的是中国今年增长8.1%，不过6%以上意味着6%是底线，“以上”不同于往年的“左右”，中国今年的实际经济增速有可能更高。 中国如今注重高质量发展，今年单位GDP能耗又设置了3%的下降目标。6%以上的增长寄托了中国继续扩大经济规模，同时解决各种现实问题，满足广大人民群众在新一年生活更好的多重希望。 去年新冠疫情大暴发，对各国的经济韧性形成了很大考验。中国成为唯一正增长的主要经济体，2.3%是近年来中国最低的增速，但与美国-3.5%形成了5.8%的差距。今年是各国经济反弹年，6%以上仍高于IMF对其他主要经济体今年增速的预测。 Why set the GDP growth target at over 6%? Due to the low comparison base from last year and the recovery at home and abroad, the over 6-percent growth target for 2021 is certainly achievable, Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the economic policy commission under the China Association of Policy Science, told CGTN on Friday. China's economy has been widely expected to grow around 8 percent in 2021. IMF's World Economic Outlook released in January forecast China's economy to expand by 8.1 percent this year. However, with economic growth back to the normal range of around 6 percent this year, the 8-percent expansion will not continue next year. Therefore, setting a goal above 6 percent ensures policy consistency for the future, Xu said. Last year, the world's second-largest economy contracted by 6.8 percent in the first quarter amid a national lockdown due to COVID-19 but rebounded soon with a 3.2-percent growth in the second quarter and grew 2.3 percent for the whole year, making it the only major economy in the world to register positive growth in 2020. Due to uncertainties of the time, China didn't set a GDP target last year. Sun Guojun, a member of the drafting team of the government work report with the State Council Research Office, said they set a goal this year because they believe "recovery and growth that started from the second quarter last year would sustain through 2021." A strong comeback of consumption is one of the most important reasons for the drafting team to set the 6-percent target, Sun said at a news briefing on Friday. 尽管中国经济强劲复苏，但全球疫情尚未结束，不确定性依然很高。根据野村证券预测，受疫情影响，去年较低的基数可能会导致今年第一季度整体经济增长率人为地高于去年同期的18%左右，并将全年GDP增长率提升至8.8%。 野村研报写道，由于受新冠肺炎疫情影响程度不同，中国各省、市的GDP基数存在很大差异。报告还指出，为所有省份设定统一增长目标作为基准的做法并不妥当。 例如，湖北疫情严重，2020年实际GDP增速下降5%；而西藏仅受到轻微冲击，反弹情况好很多，去年增长达到7.8%。 长远来看，货币和财政政策预计将保持目前的速度，除非经济数据表现出持续下行趋势，不过不太可能在今年上半年发生这样的情况。富勒顿首席策略师吉米·朱表示。 报告指出，我国将继续扩大内需，追求更高水平的对外开放。 Despite the strong recovery, uncertainty is still quite high as the pandemic is not over yet globally. And an extremely low base last year will probably result in an artificially high headline growth for the first quarter of around 18 percent from a year earlier, and distort the annual GDP growth to as high as 8.8 percent, according to Nomura's estimates. Provinces and cities across China have a vastly different base effect, as they were hit by COVID-19 to different degrees, Nomura noted, adding it's not appropriate to set a specific national growth target as a benchmark for all provinces. For example, Hubei was severely hit by the pandemic and saw its real GDP growth slump 5 percent in 2020, while Tibet was only slightly hit and rebounded much better, posting a 7.8-percent growth last year. "Looking ahead, monetary and fiscal policy is expected to maintain at the current pace, the growth support would be only accelerated if high-frequency economic data shows signs of the persistent downward trend, and that is unlikely to happen in the first half of the year," said Jimmy Zhu, chief strategist at Fullerton Research. The country will continue to expand domestic demand and pursue higher-standard opening up, according to the report.