China aims to expand its gross domestic product by over six percent in 2021, with more efforts on reform, innovation and high-quality development, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced at the National People’s Congress, (NPC), the country’s Parliament on Friday.

China’s economy, which was the first to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic and early to recover from its impact, grew 2.3 percent in 2020, registering the lowest annual growth rate in 45 years.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the world’s second-largest economy grew by 2.3 percent expanding to USD 15.42 trillion in dollar terms in 2020, according to the data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last month. In the local currency, the GDP exceeded 100-trillion-yuan (USD 15.42 trillion) threshold to 101.5986 trillion yuan.

In his work report, Li said China plans to cut the ratio of its deficit to GDP to around 3.2 percent for the year of 2021. He said China aims to create more than 11 million new urban jobs in 2021.

China has set its consumer inflation target at around three percent for the year of 2021, he said. China will strive to keep its economy running within an appropriate range during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, he said.

The annual session of the NPC started on Friday and would continue till March 11.