Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Deputy Party Secretary Liu Qing: "4.5%—5%" signals a shift in the macroeconomic governance paradigm

The government work report sets this year’s economic growth target at 4.5%–5% and proposes that, in actual work, efforts be made to achieve even better results. Liu Qing, Deputy Party Secretary of the School Party Committee and Chair of the Department of Economics at the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, and an associate professor appointed for a long term, said that 2026, as the first year of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan,” sees the economic growth target adjusted from the “around 5%” range that had continued for the previous three years to the “4.5%–5%” range. This is not a mere numerical adjustment, but a reflection of a profound shift in the logic of China’s economic development from prioritizing speed to prioritizing both quality and efficiency. It also indicates a change in the paradigm of China’s macroeconomic governance. (People’s Finance News)