China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, bowed out from public life yesterday after delivering his tenth and final annual “state of the union” address and announcing an economic growth target this year of 7.5 per cent.
Mr Wen warned that, in contrast to most of his time in office, this year’s growth target of 7.5 per cent was a “goal we will have to work hard to attain”. Unlike previous years, when growth exceeded the official figure by a wide margin, the economy expanded by just 7.8 per cent last year, its slowest annual pace in 13 years.
If the economy were to grow by exactly 7.5 per cent this year, it would be the worst performance since 1990. It would, however, also no longer be a problem for the man who likes to be called “Grandpa Wen”.
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