Full transcript of policy briefing of the State Council on Jan 16, 2015

Zhu Zhixin:

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be at the briefing today. First, I would like to describe the national economic and social development in 2014 briefly, as I was asked to.

The last year made a strong impression on us. My deepest impression about the past year, in a nutshell, is that the situation was harder than expected, but the outcome was better than we thought.

By saying that the situation was harder than expected, I essentially mean that the downward pressure on the economy was relatively high in the past year, the economy was in the throes of the process of restructuring, and businesses faced more difficulties than before. Also, some risks appeared. The situation was worse than we thought.

On the other hand, the outcome was better than we expected, because in the face of multiple hardships and challenges, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we implemented decisions made by the Central Economic Work Conference and stipulated in the Government Work Report.

We made progress while maintaining stability, innovatively used macroeconomic controls, and marked solid accomplishment in various fields, thus ensuring sustained and steady economic and social development.

Zhu Zhixin:

First, economic growth within a reasonable range. Under the guidance of proactive fiscal policies and prudent monetary policies, including a series of measures to encourage investment and consumption, the economy grew at a steady 7.4 percent in the first three quarters of 2014. The growth figures for the first, second and third quarters were 7.4 percent, 7.5 percent and 7.3 percent respectively. We reckon that economic growth for the whole year will be in a reasonable range.

Meanwhile, the number of jobs created in cities and townships in 2014 surpassed the target. It is expected that more than 13 million people found jobs in the whole year.

Prices were basically stable. Consumer prices for the whole year rose by 2 percent, well within the annual target of controlling them at around 3.5 percent.