SCMP: China's provinces set confident economic growth targets in 2021

Several of China's provincial governments have released their economic growth targets for 2021, according to a report from the South China Morning Post last week, citing provincial authorities' government work reports at each province's annual session of the provincial legislature.

China's economy expanded 2.3 percent in 2020, and the country would maintain its support policies to ensure growth at a reasonable level in 2021, despite of the coronavirus pandemic, said the report.

Guangdong, China's largest provincial economy, had set a growth target of "above 6 percent" for 2021, up from a goal of "about 6 percent" for the previous year, said SCMP.

Both Shanghai and Beijing released growth targets of "more than 6 percent" for 2021, after similarly aiming for "about 6 percent" for 2020.

China's southern island province Hainan, which aims to become a free trade port, also set its economic growth at "no less than 10 percent" in 2021, up from the "about 6.5 percent" for 2020.

China's most populous province Henan, and coal mining industry center Shanxi province, set growth targets of "more than 7 percent" and 8 percent, respectively. While Eastern China's Fujian province set its target at 7.5 percent growth in 2021, the report said.