China Retains 7.5% Growth Target for 2014

China set a 7.5 percent target for economic growth in 2014, a pace that may make it more difficult to achieve the leadership’s goals of curbing credit risks and stemming the pollution choking the nation’s biggest cities.

The growth target, which is the same as last year’s, will boost market confidence and protect jobs, Premier Li Keqiang told the annual meeting of the legislature in Beijing today. “We must keep economic development as the central task and maintain a proper economic growth rate,” Li said.