China has backed off its yearly economic growth target as it doubles down on an ultra-strict “zero COVID” policy that has pummelled consumer spending, manufacturing and trade. Chinese officials dropped previous calls to reach the 5.5 percent growth target while pledging to “strive to achieve the best results” during the next six months, according to a state media report published on Thursday following a high-level meeting of the ruling Communist Party.…

This data comes from the ChinaPulse.com media intelligence and smart news insights monitoring platform.