LOWER SPEED, HIGHER QUALITY
While seeking stability, China is aiming for better quality in its economic growth and is sparing no effort to strike a balance between a medium-high growth and economic restructuring.
The economy is shifting toward a growth model driven more by new engines such as consumer spending, innovation and services as policymakers wean the economy off reliance on exports and investment.
Over the past few years, Chinese economy has benefited from reform and innovation, including supply-side structural reform, the Belt and Road Initiative as well as regional integrated development plans.
To shore up growth, more reforms are in the pipeline. According to the Central Economic Work Conference, policymakers agreed to expand reform to more areas, including overhauling the supply side of agriculture, reviving the real economy and stabilizing the property sector.
ENGINES FOR MEDIUM-HIGH GROWTH
Thanks to constant reforms and upgraded development practices under the central leadership, China's economic health has improved over the past four years, despite the slowdown.
When the current government took office in 2013, it began its term with the transformation of government functions, streamlining administrative approvals and delegating power to lower levels.
The reform not only led to burgeoning growth in the number of new companies, but also unleashed the creativity of entrepreneurs and made the economy more vibrant.
Later, the "new normal" became a catch phrase in China as the central leadership determined the economy had entered a stage of medium-high growth, requiring constant upgrading of the economic structure and seeking innovation.
Local governments have been urged to take the initiative in adapting to the "new normal" to keep economic growth at a reasonable range and raise growth quality and efficiency.
Realizing China's over-reliance on the demand side, including investment, consumption and exports, the central leadership started to underscore supply-side structural reform in 2015.
Supply-side structural reform, including lowering corporate costs and tackling excess capacity, has played an increasingly important role in the transition from dependence on traditional engines to new sources of growth.
Evolution of China's economic governance will continue to steer the economy on a higher-quality and more sustainable path and help achieve its development goals, including creating a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way by 2020, analysts say.
