BEIJING - Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday that the country targets economic growth of around 5 percent in 2024, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

Speaking at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), he explained that the main development targets for this year are GDP growth of around 5 percent, over 12 million new urban jobs, a surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent, and a Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of around 3 percent.

He also added growth in personal income with economic growth, a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments, grain output of over 650 million metric tons, a drop of around 2.5 percent in energy consumption per unit of GDP, and continued environmental improvements.

The premier said that all localities and government departments should adopt more policies that are conducive to keeping expectations, economic growth, and employment stable, prudently formulate measures that could be contractionary or inhibitive in nature, and proactively push ahead with transforming the growth model, making structural adjustments, improving quality, and enhancing performance.