China has set a GDP growth target of around 5% for 2026 and aims to create more than 12 million new urban jobs, Premier Li Qiang announced Thursday at the country’s annual Two Sessions policy meetings, which began Wednesday. 

Delivering his government work report at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Thursday, Premier Li said that while China’s achievements should be recognized, the country must remain clear-eyed about the difficulties and challenges ahead.

“Changes in the external environment are having a growing impact,” Li said, citing rising geopolitical risks, weakening global economic momentum, and mounting challenges to multilateralism and free trade. Domestically, he added, longstanding issues and new challenges remain in the course of economic development and transformation.

The “Two Sessions,” or lianghui, are a series of annual political meetings that bring together the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference each spring to set the country’s economic, social, and political agenda for the year ahead.

China’s economy grew 5% in 2025, reaching more than 140 trillion yuan ($20 trillion), Li said while delivering the government work report. The country added over 12 million new urban jobs last year, with the surveyed urban unemployment rate averaging 5.2%. 

“We will expand market access and open up more areas, particularly in the service sector,” Li said. “We will shorten the negative list for cross-border trade in services. We will advance negotiations to conclude more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements.”

The government also plans to maintain a deficit-to-GDP ratio of about 4%, with the fiscal deficit set at 5.89 trillion yuan — 230 billion yuan higher than last year. Total public spending is projected to exceed 30 trillion yuan for the first time. 

Boosting domestic consumption remains a key priority. Li announced a 100-billion-yuan fiscal package to drive domestic demand, alongside more than 250 billion yuan in “ultra-long-term special treasury bonds” to support consumer goods trade-in programs. 

For the first time, the report also proposed a plan to raise incomes by increasing earnings for low-income groups, expanding property income, and improving wage and social security systems. 

Authorities will also expand support for healthcare, pensions, and childcare support, including higher medical insurance subsidies and the development of affordable childcare. Officials said these measures are intended to strengthen “consumption capacity.”

Premier Li also emphasized accelerating the development of emerging industries, such as integrated circuits, aerospace, biomedicine, and the low-altitude economy.

(Header image: The National People’s Congress in session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 5, 2026. Xinhua)