China’s National People’s Congress set the country’s growth target at around 5%. Here’s what analysts are saying in response: JPMorgan: Analysts there emphasized that the target is usually determined well before the NPC meeting, in December. “The evolvement between December and March usually will not affect the growth target (with perhaps the only exception that no growth target was announced in 2020 after the COVID outbreak). Back in December, ‘around 5%’ was clearly not a conservative growth target and it shows the emphasis on growth stabilization and growth quality,” they said.
Societe Generale: “The growth target of c.5% may seem underwhelming, but we see it as a strategy of ‘aiming low and overachieve’ by the upcoming new government team, rather than lack of confidence among policymakers,” says the French bank, which adds that there’s no visible step up in either fiscal or monetary easing. “Essentially, the biggest stimulus to the Chinese economy this year is the end of zero-COVID and COVID, and the second biggest is a more pragmatic policy stance toward real estate and internet platforms, which is reconfirmed in the NPC reports.” TD Securities: “Earlier, we highlighted that this was an easily achievable target, but authorities app …