Ma Jun, former chief economist at the...>

CHINA PRESS: Ma Jun, former chief economist at the research bureau of the

People's Bank of China, said China should stop setting GDP goals starting next

year and instead use the unemployment rate as a macro-control goal, Caixin

Magazine reported on Monday. Ma was quoted as saying that setting GDP goals

increase financial risks and put undue pressure on the environment. He said

China has justified using GDP as a goal for macro-control of the economy by

claiming it is highly related to job creation, the report said. But that

relationship is weakening, Ma said, as the labor force population drops, the

countryside population slows its transfer to cities, and the service sector

increasingly accounts for a higher percentage of China's economy. In switching

focus to the unemployment rate, China does not necessarily have to set a

specific number in the beginning, but could set a "range" for the rate, Ma said.

(Caixin)