(Reuters) - China needs to sustain economic growth of 7.2 percent to ensure a stable job market, Premier Li Keqiang said as he warned the government against further expanding already loose money policies.
In one of the few occasions when a top official has enunciated the minimum level of growth needed for employment, Li said calculations show China's economy must grow 7.2 percent annually to create 10 million jobs a year.
That would cap the urban unemployment rate at around 4 percent, he said.
"We want to stabilize economic growth because we need to guarantee employment essentially," Li was quoted by the Workers' Daily as saying on Monday. His remarks were made at a union meeting two weeks ago but were only published in full this week.
Yet even as authorities keep an eye on growth, Li sounded a warning on easy credit supply, which he said had exceeded 100 trillion yuan ($16.4 trillion) in the world's second-biggest economy.
"Our outstanding M2 money supply has at the end of March exceeded 100 trillion yuan, and that is already twice the size of our gross domestic product (GDP)," Li was quoting as saying.
"In other words, there is already a lot of money in the 'pool', to print more money may lead to inflation."
His comments affirmed the government's hawkish stance on inflation, and did not signal any changes in policy bias, said Tao Wang, an UBS economist.
But they underscore the fine line China must toe to create economic growth and jobs for social stability, while guarding against excesses that may hurt its fortunes in the long run.
Powered by heavy reliance on exports and investment, Chinese authorities have long criticized the country's $8.5-trillion economy as unstable and on an unsustainable growth path.
To retool the economy, China's new leaders have signaled they are willing to tolerate slower expansion in exchange for cleaner growth led by consumption.
A crucial meeting of top leaders from November 9 to Nov 12 will shed light on just how committed Beijing is to enforcing reforms, many of which analysts say would test politicians' will to push through unpopular changes.
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