China's Economy Better Than Expected: Premier Li

China's economy is better than expected so far this year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Tuesday, citing the increase of new jobs and contribution of consumption and service industries to overall economic growth. China's GDP growth was 6.7 percent in the first six months this year and it's not easy for China to hit such a growth target against the backdrop of the fragile global economic recovery and domestic economic restructuring, said Li while addressing the opening of a cooperation conference between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in Macao. "In recent years, China's economy grows within an appropriate range against the backdrop of the fragile global economic recovery and some deep-rooted issues and problems in China's economy. It maintains a stable growth amid industrial transformation and upgrading. Its growth pace is one of the fastest among the major economies in the world. China's economy contributes over 25 percent to the world economic growth. China's economic growth was 6.7 percent in the first half of this year. It's not easy for China to hit such a target on the basis of an economic aggregate of over 10 trillion US dollars, as the economic value added now is more than a double-digit growth in the past. The annually added economic value of over 800 billion US dollars is equal to the economic aggregate of a middle-income country," Li said. In the first nine months, China created more than 10 million jobs in cities, with the urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 big cities lower than five percent in September, the first time in recent years, said the premier. "When we see such achievements, we also see we're faced with the downward pressure. To keep the economy stable, we need to increase the demand and speed up the supply-side reform," Li said. China's GDP growth was 6.9 percent in 2015, the slowest in 25 years. In the first half of 2016, it registered an even lower GDP growth of 6.7 percent, and the International Monetary Fund forecast in July that China's GDP growth this year could be 6.6 percent, triggering concerns that the country might be caught in the low-rate growth trap for some time. Li said China's economic growth benefits from its opening-up, so the country will unswervingly pursue the win-win strategy of opening-up. "China is committed to seeking new impetus to economic development, economic restructuring and upgrading. This process also provides a good opportunity for the world economy in terms of market potentials. We expect our import to reach eight trillion US dollars in the coming five years, outward investment to hit 720 billion US dollars, and outbound tourists to be over 600 million, which will bring huge business opportunities for other countries including Portuguese-speaking countries," Li said. The Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries was created in October 2003 in Macao. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China, hosted by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and with the joint participation of seven PSCs: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and East Timor. More on:http://www.cctvplus.com/news/20161011/8034088.shtml#!language=1 Subscribe us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CCTVPlus CCTV+ official website: http://www.cctvplus.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cctv-news-content Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewsContent.CCTVPLUS Twitter: https://twitter.com/CCTV_Plus