After 30 years of red-hot double-digit growth, China is trying to change tack and rebalance its economy.
Premier Li Keqiang. Photo: AFP
Prime Minister Li Keqiang has told the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing that painful structural adjustments will be needed to maintain economic growth, the BBC reports.
China's top priority for the coming year, he said, is to keep the economy expanding fast.
Growth of around 7.5 percent is the target for this year. But Mr Li said bad smog across eastern China was nature's red light warning against inefficient development and promised that the government would declare war on pollution.
To enable China's military to be better equipped to fight real wars, the defence budget is going up by more than 12 percent to US$130 billion a year.
The country also set its inflation goal at 3.5%, aimed at keeping prices in check.
In 2013, the country grew at a pace of 7.7%, about the same as in 2012.
Recent manufacturing data has also indicated a slowdown in activity in the world's second largest economy.
Mr Li spoke of the need for free-trade deals with major economies, including Australia, South Korea and the United States. He said boosting demand is a major force driving economic growth and an important structural adjustment.
New Zealand was the first developed nation to sign a bilateral free trade agreement with China in 2008.
