Premier Li Keqiang, at the opening of parliament, announced in his speech that China will target 7.5% in growth. China has averaged a very impressive 9.8% over the past 35 years.

In Premier Li’s statement, he says, “We are at a critical juncture where our path upward is particularly steep. At the same time it should be noted that China has the foundation and conditions for maintaining a medium to high rate of growth for some time to come.”

Looking broadly at the statement, the targets for 2014 were the same as 2013, including an inflation rate target of 3.5%

Premier Li promised to battle air pollution.

Premier Li also covered, adding 10 million urban jobs, keeping urban unemployment rate at a maximum of 4.6 percent, expansion of VAT to other services, upgrade more cell towers to 4G and expectations for imports and exports to increase by 7.5% in 2014.

– By Julien David

China, Growth Rate, Li Keqiang, Parliament