China's lack of economic guidance hits steel markets

摘要

China will not set a GDP target this year and announced no major stimulus policies on the first day of its annual congress, disappointing steel market participants who had been expecting more infrastructure spending. There will be no specific target for the 2020 GDP growth rate because of economic and trade uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese premier Li Keqiang said in his opening speech to the National People's Congress (NPC). China's GDP expanded by 6.1pc to 99.1 trillion yuan ($13 trillion) in 2019, when the country added 13.5mn jobs and had an urban unemployment rate of 5.3pc, according to the government's working report submitted by Li.