China sets modest growth target of about 5 per cent as parliament opens

China’s President Xi Jinping, centre, attends the opening ceremony of CPPCC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 4.NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images China set a modest target for economic growth this year of around 5 per cent on Sunday as it kicked off the annual session of its National People's Congress (NPC), which is poised to implement the biggest government shakeup in a decade. The economy gave one of its weakest performances in decades last year, when gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 3 per cent, squeezed by three years of COVID-19 controls, a crisis in…