Beyond GDP, the government is also aiming to create over 12 million new urban jobs – keeping its urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 per cent.
To support those goals, Beijing signalled a continuation of its expansionary fiscal stance.
The deficit-to-GDP ratio is set at 4 per cent, unchanged from 2025 – with general public budget expenditure projected to exceed 30 trillion yuan for the first time – an increase of about 1.27 trillion yuan from last year.
Domestic consumption is a central plank of that spending push.
Li said Beijing’s priority was to make “coordinated efforts to boost consumption and expand investment”.
The government earmarked 250 billion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds for consumer goods trade-in programmes and announced a new 100 billion yuan fiscal-financial coordination fund to stimulate domestic demand.
China kept its consumer price index (CPI) increase target at around 2 per cent, the same as last year.