China rubbishes economic ‘hard landing’ talk

China’s economy isn’t headed for a hard landing and isn’t dragging on the global economy, China’s top economic planner said, but uncertainty and instability in the global economy do pose a risk to its growth.

China acknowledged it faced a tough battle to keep world’s No.2 economy growing by at least 6.5% over the next five years while pushing hard to create more jobs and restructuring state-owned enterprises.

The comments, as Beijing kicked off its 12-day annual national parliament, underscored the challenges facing China as its economy transitions from an investment and export focused economy to one based more on services and consumption.