Beijing (AFP) – China vowed to fight a trade war with the United States “to the end” on Thursday, as tariffs from Washington buffeted the global economy and threatened to hit Beijing’s lagging growth. Beijing set an ambitious annual growth target of around five percent this week, vowing to make domestic demand its main economic driver as the escalating trade confrontation with the United States hit exports.
US President Donald Trump imposed more blanket tariffs on Chinese imports this week, following a similar move last month — levies expected to hit hundreds of billions of dollars in total trade between the world’s two largest economies. Commerce Minister Wang Wentao warned that US tariffs threatened to “disrupt the stability of the global industrial supply chain and hinder the development of the global economy.” “If the United States continues down this wrong path, we will fight to the end,” he told reporters, decrying what he called “unilateralism and bullying” by Washington.
China’s top economic planner Zheng Shanjie acknowledged that “uncertainty in the external environment is further increasing.” But, he said, China has “full confidence” that it can reach its growth goal this year. “We have the basic support and guarantee of achieving this year’s growth target of around five percent,” Zheng said, speaking alongside Wang on the sidelines of Beijing’s annual “Two Sessions” political meetings. “We are also facing some problems — such as insufficient domestic demand, production and operation difficulties in some industries and some enterprises,” Zheng added. “However, we feel that these difficulties and challenges…can all be overcome and solved.”
– Spending to expand – China’s headline growth figure, announced by Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday at an annual Communist Party conclave, was broadly in line with an AFP survey of analysts. But experts say it is ambitious considering the scale of China’s economic challenges — and are hoping officials will unveil further economic support this week.
On Thursday, central bank chief Pan Gongsheng said the country would cut interest rates further this year “as appropriate, based on domestic and international economic and financial situations.” Beijing’s central bank cut two key interest rates to historic lows in October. Finance Minister Lan Fo’an vowed Thursday to “further expand” fiscal spending in 2025. That, he said, would promote “the sustainable and healthy development of the economy and society.”
China has struggled to regain its footing since the Covid-19 pandemic, as domestic consumption flags and a persistent debt crisis in the vast property sector drags on. Trump’s latest round of tariffs has deepened the challenges. Beijing announced its own measures on Tuesday in retaliation to Washington’s latest tariff hike and vowed it would fight a trade war to the “bitter end.” The moves will see China impose levies of up to 15 percent on a range of US agricultural products including soybeans, pork, and wheat starting from early next week.
© 2024 AFP
