At the First Session of the 12th National People's Congress, former Premier Wen Jiabao released a series of figures related to China's financial growth. Yi Xianrong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Finance and Banking, in his article for Securities Daily, crunched those numbers, taking into account the backdrop of China's current development. Edited excerpts from his conclusions follow:

According to the Report on Government Work delivered on March 5, China's gross domestic product (GDP), consumer price index (CPI) and broad money supply (M2) are expected to increase this year by 7.5 percent, 3.5 percent and 13 percent, respectively, with fiscal deficit being pegged at 2 percent of the GDP. In 2012, these indicators were 7.5 percent, 4 percent, 14 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

GDP growth will fall to between 6 percent and 8 percent, as mentioned in former Party General Secretary Hu Jintao's report at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November last year, with an emphasis on quality and efficient growth rather than rapid growth.

China will see greater economic momentum in 2013. As the housing market continues to soar, GDP growth in the first several months of 2013 is likely to surpass 8 percent. Taking the political-economic cycle into account, a new round of investment by local governments will greatly boost the possibility that annual GDP growth will return to more than 8 percent in 2013.

Therefore, the new generation of Chinese leaders must not only maintain rapid economic growth, but also face up to existing issues, including real estate bubbles, the risks of shadow banking and overheated investment. Given external uncertainties, such as America's slow recovery, a deteriorating eurozone debt crisis and a depreciating yen, this will not be easy.

In 2013, the CPI will stay below 3.5 percent, which may be related to the low CPI growth registered in 2012. Due to low price levels in a fragile global economy, China may reach its target with no difficulty. But the difference in CPI calculations made in China and the developed world, along with troublesome realities, make ignoring inflationary pressures impossible. When pork prices begin to rebound, China will face great pressure to keep its CPI down. In addition, the investment boom brought on by China's leadership transition may be linked with upward price trends. The government would do well to keep a watchful eye on CPI increases.

The growth target for M2 in 2013 is 1 percentage point lower than last year. Some predict that the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, may tighten monetary policies. In fact, it is not the case. The central bank will not do so due to these three concerns:

First, both money and credit growth should be kept at an appropriate level. Since the domestic real estate market has continued to boom, quantitative easing may push housing prices to a new high.

Second, loosening monetary policies may amplify risks caused by shadow banking, real estate bubbles and the financing activities of local governments.

Third, with constant financial innovation on the domestic market, the proportion of bank credit versus social financing has been declining, as has the significance of monetary policy controls. Under such circumstances, the M2 may decline for the next few years. Reduced M2 growth will have only a limited impact on market liquidity.

Of course, monetary policy in 2013 will generally be stable and moderately tight.

The fiscal deficit target is higher than that of 2012, indicating that fiscal policy will be more proactive this year. First, the government intends to increase spending on social security, healthcare and low-income housing to improve people's livelihoods. Second, a favorable environment needs to be created for local governments to solve their debt woes. If spending is partially shifted from local governments to the Central Government, financial risks deriving from local financing platforms will gradually be reduced. This will also propel the economic growth of less developed areas.

In short, current economic targets are designed to lead China's economic development in a new direction. This will not be done through radical policy adjustments or reforms, but in a manner that lays a solid foundation for stable and sustainable economic growth in the future.