Premier Li says China could struggle to grow its economy in second quarter: reports

China’s premier Li Keqiang said the world’s second-largest economy could struggle to record positive growth in the current quarter, urging officials to help companies resume production after Covid-19 lockdowns, the Financial Times has reported.

The comments by Li Keqiang, to tens of thousands of officials on an internal videocast yesterday, underscore the difficulties President Xi Jinping’s administration will have in reaching its annual growth target of 5.5% while also battling Omicron outbreaks.

Zero-Covid policy has brought business activity to a halt in Shanghai as well as swaths of Beijing and dozens of smaller municipalities. 

“We will try to make sure the economy grows in the second quarter,” Li said, according to a transcript that the Financial Times verified. “This is not a high target and a far cry from our 5.5%. But we have to do so.”

For the first quarter of this year China recorded 4.8 per cent annual growth in gross domestic product.

A condensed version of the premier’s comments, including his call to achieve “reasonable growth”, was carried on Chinese state television’s main evening news broadcast.