On track to attain 2024 growth goal

More efforts should also be made to stabilize employment, increase personal incomes, further unleash the services consumption potential and increase investment in areas related to the new quality productive forces, green development and people's livelihood, he said.

China has already announced a series of measures to boost demand, including the issuance of 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) worth of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds this year as well as driving large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in deals for consumer goods.

On the property front, Thursday's plenary session statement vowed to implement well certain measures to resolve real estate risks.

Policymakers have pivoted toward more aggressive rescue measures, including more direct corporate balance sheet support and a step-up in nationwide demand-side easing, to bail out the sector.

Despite facing many headwinds, China still enjoys favorable conditions to foster steady economic growth this year, as the country's domestic demand will likely pick up further in the remainder of the year with a series of supportive policy measures taking effect gradually, Sun said. "China will likely achieve its annual growth target this year."

Looking ahead, Sun said he is optimistic about China's long-term economic outlook, saying there are several positive factors supporting the country's high-quality development.

"China is moving from a middle-income country to a higher-income economy. But we still see a gap between China's per capita income and that of the developed economies," he said. "That means we still have the potential and space to grow further."

Sun said China's economy is still in the stage of transformation of growth drivers toward new quality productive forces.

"Although some of the traditional drivers are indeed weakening, such as the real estate and some traditional manufacturing sectors, we are seeing robust growth and huge potential in emerging fields including renewable energy, new energy, electric vehicles, photovoltaics and artificial intelligence," Sun said. "Those booming sectors are gradually becoming new growth drivers supporting China's long-term growth."

Foreign institutions have recently raised their forecasts for China's economic growth this year amid the country's continued economic recovery trend, strong policy stimulus and resilience in exports.

Joe Ngai, chairman of management consultancy McKinsey China, said he believes China's 2024 growth target is achievable, which will contribute to around one-third of the global economic growth this year.

While dismissing some pessimistic views on the Chinese economy propagated by some Western media, he said he "definitely does not think that the Chinese economy has peaked".

Ngai noted China's economy will not repeat Japan's experience three decades back, when it down the path to recession and very low growth, saying China still has huge growth potential in terms of urbanization and more productivity growth.

"I think we're very, very far from a stagnant productivity level. What we are looking at is that the nature of the economy needs to continue to shift," he said.

Ngai highlighted the importance of fostering new quality productive forces, saying innovation and technology will drive future high-quality growth.

"I believe that innovation will remain the biggest growth driver of China's economy. And China can be a global leader in innovation."

Looking ahead, Zhang Xiaoyan, associate dean of Tsinghua University's PBC School of Finance, said technological innovation, notably artificial intelligence and green industries, will serve as a new growth driver, boosting China's growth.