China's economy worse off in some ways than 2020, says Premier

Li Keqiang tells officials to lower nation's unemployment rate; economists expect China to miss growth target this year

China’s economy is in some respects faring worse than in 2020 when the pandemic first emerged, Premier Li Keqiang said, urging efforts to reduce a soaring unemployment rate.

“Economic indicators in China have fallen significantly, and difficulties in some aspects and to a certain extent are greater than when the epidemic hit us severely in 2020,” Li said Wednesday following a meeting with local officials, state-owned companies and financial firms to discuss how to stabilize the economy. 

His remarks came after economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast China’s economy will grow 4.5% this year, well below the government’s target of about