China Abandons GDP Target for First Time as Virus Overshadows Parliament

Chinese leader Xi Jinping (L), Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R), and Li Zhanshu, head of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2019. Jason Lee/Reuters

BEIJING—China has decided not to set an economic growth target for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and global uncertainties, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday morning as China’s biggest political event got underway, the National People’s Congress.

It marked the first time China did not set a gross domestic product (GDP) goal since 1990 when the government started to first publish such targets.