Since taking power last year, the new leadership in Beijing has insisted that it will place less emphasis on how fast China expands, and put a greater focus on the quality of its economic growth. Xi Jinping, president, and Li Keqiang, premier, have both stressed that China must reduce its addiction to cheap credit, lower its reliance on business investment and pay more attention to the quality of life of its citizens, for example by taking concrete steps to reduce pollution levels.

Yet when these declarations faced their first meaningful test last week, China’s leaders blinked. Last week at the National People’s Congress, the same assembly that 12 months ago elevated Messrs Li and Xi to their current roles, the government announced it would aim for a growth rate of 7.5 per cent this year. This is the same target as in 2013, when the economy expanded by 7.7 per cent.

China’s growth targets are, to some extent, a relic of the past. Over the past decade these have rarely been a real guide to policy, as the economy cruised faster than the leadership had planned. But at a time of slower expansion, these indicators provide useful guidance over China’s direction of travel. Beijing could have opted for a lower target – say, 7 per cent – or a range, which would have given the government greater room to slow down its overheating economy. That the government stuck to an ambitious target means the transition to a more sustainable growth path will have to wait.