Chinese provinces set lower growth targets

Close to half of China’s municipal governments have lowered their expansion targets in line with a central dictate to focus on the quality of growth rather than speed, Bloomberg reported. Fourteen provinces have reduced their gross domestic product growth targets for 2013, while the remaining 17 kept their figures the same, according to Japanese bank Nomura Holdings (NMR.NYSE, 8604.TYO). The average provincial target has fallen to 9.9%, down from 10.3%, said US finance group Citigroup (C.NYSE). Reining in municipal governments may weaken China’s growth rebound, but could alleviate concerns of bad debt weakening the financial system.