Entering ChinaOn January 20, the people’s congresses of Shandong, Sichuan, Anhui, Gansu and other provinces opened, so far, the people’s congresses of 31 provinces across the country have been held, and the main expected economic and social goals for 2025 have also been announced. From the perspective of economic growth targets, all localities generally set the target at more than 5%, among which, many major economic provinces have set the target at about 5.5%.
Generally above 5%.
On January 20, the fourth session of the 14th Sichuan Provincial People’s Congress opened, and the work report made by Sichuan Provincial Governor Shi Xiaolin on behalf of the provincial government showed that in 2024, Sichuan’s GDP will grow by 5.7%; Among the main expected development targets for 2025, the regional GDP will increase by more than 5.5%.
In fact, judging from the targets announced by the local people’s congresses, except for Qinghai Province, which has a target of about 4.5%, other provinces are around 5% or above. Among them, Tibet has the highest expected growth target, which is “more than 7%, and strive to reach 8%”; Hainan, Chongqing, Xinjiang, Hubei and Inner Mongolia are set at 6% or more.
Most of these expected growth targets are close to last year’s expected targets, and they are not much different from last year’s actual growth results. As the adverse impact of the external environment is still deepening, how to determine this year’s target has been comprehensively considered by various localities.
For example, Guangxi’s GDP will grow by about 4.2% in 2024, and the expected growth target this year is about 5%. According to the work report of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government, the determination of these goals, adhering to the unity of “stability” and “progress”, taking into account the needs and possibilities, not only reflects the positive progress, but also helps guide expectations.
Liaoning will grow by 5.1% in 2024 and proposes to grow by more than 5% this year. According to the work report of the Liaoning Provincial Government, it is positive and pragmatic to determine such a goal, which is not only based on resource endowment and development foundation, but also considers policy support and development opportunities; In line with the requirements of the “14th Five-Year Plan” and the three-year action goals, it is conducive to guiding market expectations, gathering revitalization forces, and boosting development morale.
Among these provinces, the growth targets of the major economic provinces are particularly interesting, as they are the “pillars” of the Chinese economy.
The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2023 proposed that “major economic provinces should really take the lead and make greater contributions to stabilizing the national economy”. The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2024 also proposed to “support major economic provinces to take the lead, and encourage other regions to adapt measures to local conditions and show their strengths”.
Judging from the information of the local people’s congresses, in 2024, most of the major economic provinces have achieved the expected goals at the beginning of the year. According to the local government work reports and data released by the Bureau of Statistics, in 2024, Hubei will grow by about 6%, Jiangsu and Hunan will grow by 5.8%, and Shandong and Sichuan will grow by 5.7%.
This year, the central government continues to encourage major economic provinces to take the lead, and most of the major economic provinces have targets of about 5.5%, of which Guangdong is about 5%, and Jiangsu and Shandong are more than 5%, which is the same as their targets last year; Zhejiang, Henan, Sichuan and Hunan are about 5.5%; Fujian is 5%~5.5%, according to the actual situation to strive for better results; Hubei is about 6%.
Zhu Weijiang, deputy secretary-general of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and director of the Political Research Office, said at a press conference of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee at the end of last year that the Central Economic Work Conference once again emphasized that it supports major economic provinces to take the lead. Zhejiang should not only be at the forefront of “reasonable growth in quantity”, but also demonstrate and lead in “effective improvement of quality”, take the initiative in “serving the national strategy”, and better play a leading and pillar role.
How to achieve this year’s goals
Setting goals requires a combination of factors, and achieving them requires strong initiatives on all fronts. The work report of the Liaoning Provincial Government said, “To achieve such a goal, we must make hard efforts, and we will go all out to dare to do good deeds, fight for reality, and strive for better results with the courage to win the decisive battle, unconventional measures and strength.”
On January 17, the Fujian provincial government held its first plenary meeting in 2025. Fujian Provincial Governor Zhao Long pointed out that the government work report adopted by the conference has clearly defined the task book and construction drawings for this year’s government work, and is a solemn commitment made by the provincial government to the people of the province. The provincial government system should be in accordance with the deployment arrangements of the provincial two sessions, as early as possible, as soon as possible, and as soon as possible, and implement various tasks to projects, posts, and specific responsible persons.
As a matter of fact, since the beginning of the new year, various localities have started various tasks as soon as possible. For example, Sichuan Province recently announced a list of 810 provincial key projects in 2025, and it is expected to complete an investment of 791.65 billion yuan in 2025. Among them, 532 projects were continued and 278 projects were newly started. In the past, most of the lists of provincial key investment projects were released in February, which was advanced to January, with the purpose of promoting investment as soon as possible.
Combing through the work reports of local governments, expanding domestic demand is one of the most important contents of this year’s economic work, and the work reports of local governments have made key arrangements on how to expand investment and boost consumption.
The work report of the Guangdong Provincial Government proposes to expand domestic demand in an all-round way and accurately and effectively release the potential of consumption and investment. We will intensify the implementation of the “two new” policies, make greater efforts to promote the “two-fold” projects, accelerate the cultivation of a complete domestic demand system, enhance the adaptability of supply and demand, and further smooth the economic cycle.
The work report of the Guangdong Provincial Government said that the real-time population of Guangdong Province is about 150 million, and the number of new births ranks first in the country; at the same time, Guangdong Province has the major advantages of the national strategy such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The work report of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government proposes that in terms of consumption, it will vigorously boost consumption and better play a leading role. Closely combine the promotion of consumption with the benefit of people’s livelihood, dig deep into basic consumption, and stimulate improved consumption. Among them, it is clear that it will promote the increase of income and reduce the burden of low- and middle-income groups, improve the normal wage growth mechanism of workers, and improve the consumption capacity, willingness and level of residents.
In terms of investment, Guangxi will speed up the construction of major projects and continue to improve investment efficiency. Greater efforts should be made to plan, reserve and build projects, and more prominently “two-fold” construction, so as to drive social investment with effective government investment. At the autonomous region level, more than 2,200 major projects will be coordinated and promoted, with an investment of more than 500 billion yuan, and efforts will be made to increase investment in fixed assets by 3%.
