AnaerialdronephototakenonFeb.2,2024showsacontainervesselberthingatthesmartzero-carbonterminalofTianjinPortinnorthChina'sTianjin.(Xinhua/ZhaoZishuo)BEIJING,March10(Xinhua)--Chinasetsaneconomicgrowthtargetofaround5percentfor2024.Insettingthetarget,theneedtoboostemploymentandincomesandpreventanddefuseriskshavebeentakenintoaccount,andthegrowthrateiswellalignedwiththeobjectivesofthe14thFive-YearPlan,accordingtoagovernmentworkreportawaitingapprovalbythenationallegislature.Thetargetalsotakesaccountofthepotentialforgrowthandtheconditionssupportinggrowth,itsaid.Overthepastdecades,China'seconomyhasovercomeoddssuchastheCOVID-19pandemic,naturaldisastersandtheglobalfinancialcrisis,andhasmanagedtomaintainconsistentgrowthwhileinvigoratingtheglobaleconomy.Since2014,theChineseeconomyhasreachedonemilestoneafteranother,withthecountry'sGDPpassingthe60-trillion-yuan,80-trillion-yuan,and100-trillion-yuanmarksin2014,2017and2020.Morerecently,itwentontopassthe110-trillion-yuanand120-trillion-yuanmarksdespitetheimpactsoftheCOVID-19pandemic.In2023,China'seconomygrewby5.2percent,withthecorrespondingeconomicgrowthinvolumeexceeding6trillionyuan(around845.33billionU.S.dollars)incomparableprices.Suchanincreaseinvolumewouldtakea10-percentannualGDPgrowthratetoachieve10yearsago.Forthisyear,therefore,analystsbelievethataneconomicgrowthrateofaround5percentisagoalthatcanbeachievedthroughhardwork,anditshowstheenterprisingandvigorousstateoftheChinesegovernment.Settingsuchatargetwouldhelpboostconfidence,guidepublicexpectations,andfurtherbuildconsensusondevelopment,saidZhouLi'an,aprofessoratPekingUniversity.Optimismisshownamongforeign-fundedenterprisesastheycasttheirvoteofconfidencefortheChinesemarketbyincreasingtheirinvestmentoroperationsinthecountry.Forexample,thenumberofstoresoperatedbyfastfoodchainKFChasgrowntosurpass10,000acrossChina.InJanuary,AirbusopenedaservicecenterdedicatedtotheentirelifecycleofanaircraftinthecityofChengdu,whichisthefirstsuchcenteroutsideEuropeforthecompany.AsurveybytheEuropeanChamberofCommerceinChinarevealedthatabout59percentofsurveyedcompaniesviewChinaasoneoftheirtopthreeinvestmentdestinations."China'seconomyhassufficientinternaldrivingforceandgreatpotentialforsustainedgrowth,"saidTianXuan,vicedeanofTsinghuaUniversity'sPBCSchoolofFinance.Forsure,thecountryfaceschallenges,suchasexternalshocksanduncertainties,thelackofeffectivedemand,relativelyweakpublicexpectationsandover-capacityincertainsectors.Yet,generallyspeaking,thetailwindsoutweightheheadwinds.Asamajormanufacturingpowerhouse,ChinaboastsalltheindustrialcategorieslistedintheUNindustrialclassification,anditsmanufacturingaddedvalueaccountsfor30percentoftheworld'stotal.Itistheworld'ssecond-largestconsumermarketandthelargestonlineretailmarket.Theabundanceofhigh-qualityfactorsalsoservesasacushionagainstshocks.Aseriesofreformmeasureshaveprovidedgrowthmomentumandvitality.Thecountryhasputthedevelopmentofnewqualityproductiveforceshighonitsagenda."TheChineseeconomyenjoyscapability,advantagesandopportunitiestosustaingrowth,andthelong-termpositivetrendremainsunchanged,"saidWangChanglin,vicepresidentoftheChineseAcademyofSocialSciences.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.