Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China may review its 8 percent economic-growth target for this year as the global financial crisis deepens, Deputy Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said.

The legislature will discuss the goal at its annual meeting next month, Zhong said in Hong Kong today, adding that the government remains “confident that it can achieve that goal.”

Falling export demand because of recessions in the U.S., Europe and Japan has slowed China’s growth to the weakest pace in seven years and cost the jobs of 20 million migrant workers, adding to the risk of social instability. Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged last month that meeting the 8 percent target will be “a tall order.”

“The global recession is the worst since the Great Depression,” said Wang Qing, Hong Kong-based chief China economist at Morgan Stanley. “If they adjust it down, it’s perfectly understandable.”

The International Monetary Fund forecasts China’s economy will expand 6.7 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, the least since 1990. While China is the only one of the world’s five biggest economies still growing, the pace has slowed from 13 percent in 2007 and 9 percent last year.

The government’s 8 percent target is aimed at generating jobs and avoiding instability in the world’s most populous nation, China Banking Regulatory Commission Chairman Liu Mingkang said in Beijing on Dec. 13.

Social Stability

“If China’s GDP growth slips to 6 percent or 7 percent any time, it will affect the employment rate and also social stability,” Liu said then. Last month, he said meeting the 8 percent target would be “exceptionally arduous.”

The economy’s expansion slowed to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter as trade collapsed and the property market sagged. Overseas shipments fell 17.5 percent in January from a year earlier and imports declined 43.1 percent.

“China’s foreign trade has faced unprecedented challenges arising from the global financial crisis and, as a result, reduced demand,” Zhong said today. Trade may decline again in February, he said.

Still, the economy can maintain “stable” and “healthy” growth this year, Zhong said at an event to promote a trade fair.

The government has unveiled a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package through 2010, focused on housing and infrastructure, and cut interest rates five times in the final four months of last year.

“If they want 8 percent growth, they need to further stimulate consumption,” Frank Gong, head of China research for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong, said Feb. 10.

The decline in world trade has prompted global leaders to warn of the risks of a retreat into protectionism.

China “strongly opposes” protectionism, Zhong said, urging the U.S., the nation’s second-biggest export market, to be “very cautious in this area.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Nipa Piboontanasawat in Hong Kong at npiboontanas@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 20, 2009 00:14 EST