China will be able to achieve the economic growth target of about 8 percent in 2009, if proper policies and measures are taken, says a government work report to be delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao at the parliament's annual session Thursday.
"As long as we adopt the right policies and appropriate measures and implement them effectively, we will be able to achieve this target," reads the report, distributed to the media before the opening of the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC).
It is the fifth year in a row for the country to target an eight-percent growth.
"In China, a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion, maintaining a certain growth rate for the economy is essential for expanding employment for both urban and rural residents, increasing people's incomes and ensuring social stability," says the report.
China's economy cooled to a seven-year low of nine percent last year, and broke a five-year streak of double-digit expansion, as the global financial crisis takes its toll on the world's fastest growing economy.
China is under great pressure to actualize the targeted eight-percent growth, which is essential for the populous developing nation, although the country outperformed the target in the previous four years.
With the global financial crisis still unfolding, the report acknowledges that 2009 could be "the most difficult year for China's economic development since the beginning of the 21st century."
Last time when the country was confronted by a similar crisis, China's economy expanded by 7.8 percent in 1998, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.
Source:Xinhua
