BEIJING, March 5 — China set the country’s lowest annual growth target in decades on Thursday at its yearly Two Sessions parliamentary gathering, where the government will unveil its plans to tackle sluggish consumption and a flagging property market.

For 2026, China expects growth of 4.5 to 5 per cent, according to a government work report issued Thursday, “with efforts in actual work to strive for even better results”.

In 2025, it had set a target of around five per cent.

This year’s is the lowest target in decades, barring 2020, when no goal was set as the economy reeled from the Covid-19 pandemic.

China’s leaders say the economic model must shift away from traditional drivers like exports and manufacturing, and towards consumption-based growth.

Other “main projected targets for development” in 2026 include an increase in the consumer price index of around two per cent, and “growth in residents’ income in step with economic growth”. — AFP