CRNTT:

My question is for Mr. Zhu. Will this round of trade friction between China and the United States impact China's GDP growth target this year? If yes, how big will the influence be? 

Zhu Guangyao:

The Chinese economy has maintained stable growth in recent years. Both the 19th CPC National Congress and the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at this year's two sessions made clear that the Chinese economy has shifted from fast growth to high quality development. This is in accordance with the principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability. It's very important for China to upgrade its economy, give priority to performance and therefore maintain sound and sustainable development. 

The Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council have made it clear that guided by this basic principle, we must unswervingly implement the supply-side structural reforms, focusing on the supply-side structural reform to push the three major tasks. 

The three major tasks, also tasks for the next three years, are preventing systemic financial risks, reducing poverty and controlling pollution. These three major tasks are related to the stability of our economic system and quality of our people's lives. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made consecutive upward revisions of its forecast for China's economic growth. The fund expects China's economy to expand by 6.6 percent this year, higher than the 6.5 percent target announced by Premier Li Keqiang during his government work report presentation at the opening meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress.

The IMF had an overall assessment. According to its 6.6 percent forecast, if China maintains a three-year average growth rate of 6.3 percent in 2018, 2019, and 2020, China will double its 2010 GDP by 2020. Therefore, we are fully confident that we will achieve our goal of doubling the size of China's economy by 2020. In 2017, China's per capita GNP reached US$ 8,820. The World Bank's middle-income standard is US$12,700. We can certainly cross the middle-income line if China develops at this speed.

Therefore, we do not want China and the United States to have a "trade war," yet now we are indeed threatened by serious trade frictions. Both sides should calm down and explore a new path through cooperation and mutual respect, and we must gradually come up with a way to mitigate the imbalance in Sino-U.S. trade during the process of cooperation. China has made clear that we do not pursue a trade surplus and we hope bilateral trade will gradually come to a balance in the process of cooperation. At the same time, in a win-win situation, China and the United States can realize the harmonious coexistence of their economies, work together to improve people's well being, and jointly promote the peaceful development of the world. Thank you.

Hu Kaihong:

This concludes today's briefing. Thank you, Mr. Zhu and Mr. Wang. Thank you, friends from the press.

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