Chinese officials in more than 70 small cities and counties have dropped GDP as a performance metric, Financial Times reported, citing state media. The move, which follows a directive issued by top leaders last year, is among the first concrete signs of China switching its blind pursuit of economic growth at all costs towards measures that encourage better quality of life by focusing more on environmental protection and reducing poverty. “Using GDP as the main assessment method has caused a lot of problems, like unequal income distribution, problems with the social welfare system and environmental costs,” said Xie Yaxuan, an analyst at China Merchants Securities.
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