China has lowered its GDP growth target to between 6-6.5 percent for 2019, as the country seeks to maintain stable growth amid downward economic pressure and as it continues to pursue major policy goals, according to a Government Work Report on Tuesday.The GDP growth target released Tuesday morning in Premier Li Keqiang's annual Government Work Report to the National People's Congress was set at a range of 6 to 6.5 percent for 2019, lower than last year's goal of around 6.5 percent.Adopting a range as a target instead of the previous practice of using an exact figure gives policymakers room to maneuver amid uncertainties and reinforces the country's goal to focus on quality growth, analysts said. A range target was previously set for 2016 at 6.5-7 percent."I think this is a very prudent target," Cao Heping, a professor of economics at Peking University told the Global Times on Tuesday, noting that the target range takes into account all the challenges China is facing, while also leaving policymakers room to maneuver in pursuit of different goals this year.The cuts to the GDP growth target came as the Chinese economy faces pressure from a persistent slowdown, as well as a worsening external environment marked by rising trade tensions and a slowing global economy.In 2018, China's GDP grew by 6.6 percent, the slowest pace in 28 years, though it met the government's target of around 6.5 percent set in the Government Work Report in March 2018. Presuming economic growth reaches 6.5 percent in 2019, it would still come at the slowest pace in decades."The target falls in line with market expectations, while also shows the central government's pragmatic attitude amid the downward pressure in the domestic economy and global uncertainties," Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.Cao said GDP growth in the first half of the year will further slow due to the impact of the China-US trade war and other domestic challenges, but will likely stabilize in the second half of the year as the effect of the new policies kicks in."No one is underestimating the challenges we face, but we should not worry about the trimmed growth target," he said, noting that even the lower end of the target range would still mean the Chinese economy is still among the fastest-growing major economies.In its latest forecast, the IMF said the average growth speed for emerging markets and developing economies is expected to slow to 4.5 percent in 2019 from 4.6 percent in 2018. Average global growth would be 3.5 percent, while the US economy is expected to grow at 2.5 percent, according to the IMF.The Government Work Report also says that China is aiming to maintain a consumer inflation level at around 3 percent for 2019, compared to a 2.1 percent growth in 2018, which is well below the target of around 3 percent set in March 2018.Also, China will create 11 million new jobs in 2019 and keep the surveyed urban unemployment rate at around 5.5 percent, according to the work report. In 2018, China added 13.61 million jobs against its target of 11 million.China also set a higher budget deficit target of 2.8 percent of GDP for 2019, compared to a goal of 2.6 percent in 2018.As part of the government's push to stabilize growth and ease the burden on companies, policymakers also announced major cuts to value added tax for companies, including a 3-percentage point cut to taxes for manufacturing firms. In total, China will cut the taxes and fees levied on companies by some 2 trillion yuan ($298.31 billion) in 2019.