THE WORLD BANK is lending some international credibility to China’s likely switch to a 7% annual GDP growth target next year. In its latest economic update the Bank says 7% growth would not hurt China’s labor market, an indicator watched closely by the leadership in Beijing for any sign of incipient social unrest.
Attempting to sustain the current offical target of 7.5% annual GDP growth hampers the government efforts to rebalance the economy towards being driven by domestic consumption, the Bank says. “The current emphasis on meeting short-term growth targets will make it more challenging to implement the policies necessary to shift growth to a more sustainable medium-term path.”
In that the Bank echoes the words of the International Monetary Fund. In July the Fund said that Beijing should set a growth target of 6.5%-7% for 2015 and not introduce any stimulus measures unless the economy looked likely to decelerate to a pace below that.
China Bystander 
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