Exclusive: China likely to avoid setting 2021 GDP target over debt concerns, sources say

By Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China will likely avoid setting a 2021 growth target, dropping the closely watched measure for a second straight year on concerns that maintaining one could encourage provincial economies to ramp up debt, policy sources told Reuters. The world's second-biggest economy eked out 2.3% growth last year despite the ravages of the pandemic that emerged in the central city of Wuhan, and will rebound a sharp 8.4% this year thanks to Beijing's aggressive COVID-19 response and global recovery, according to a Reuters poll of economists. But policymakers fear that pegging official ambitions to a specific…