BEIJING: China’s ongoing structural reforms, which focus on promoting consumer-led growth, are set to drive its economy toward enormous dynamism, said Mexican experts. Reforms already underway were further bolstered by measures announced Sunday during the annual plenary session of China’s national legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC). “In coming months, we are going to see a China with enormous dynamism,” said Ignacio Martinez Cortes, a research professor at the Center for International Relations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Those measures and the 6.5-percent economic growth target set for 2017 “aim for sustainable development,” Martinez told Xinhua in a recent interview. Armando Azua Garcia, of the Asian Studies Center at Mexico City’s Iberoamerican University, agreed with Martinez.
China’s structural reforms will allow it to continue making progress in strengthening its domestic market, which will be reflected in greater dynamism in the short and medium terms, said Azua. After years of growth fueled by exports on a massive scale, China is reorienting its economy to be driven by domestic consumption. But that’s only part of the story, said Azua, noting decisionmakers are also implementing the reforms needed to increase investor confidence. China is striving to improve the environment for foreign investors, said Azua. To reduce the government’s role in the economy, Azua said, China’s reforms also seek to shrink the large public sector “by delegating tasks” that could be done more efficiently by privately-owned small- and medium-sized companies, presenting opportunities for foreign and domestic investors alike. China unveiled new programs designed to complement policies in place to meet the development goals outlined in China’s 13th Five Year Plan, including consolidating the domestic market and further opening up to foreign investment. According to figures presented at the “two sessions,” which also include the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to $10.8 trillion in 2016, with a growth rate of 6.7 percent. China’s economic performance contributed more than 30 percent of global economic growth, placing the country ahead of many other economies. “I think the measures presented and the target growth set for 2017 are considered and correct, and will achieve stability,” said Martinez.
China may not see the double-digit growth of past years, but that may be a reflection of the country’s changing priorities, added the expert. Martinez said that China is striving to build a socially-friendly economy by boosting domestic consumption, and therefore production and jobs, and to spread development to regions that have traditionally lagged behind, like the country’s central region. China aims to create more than 11 million new jobs in urban centers this year, as part of its goal to build a moderately prosperous society by 2020. Azua, of the Iberoamerican University, believes the country could meet these goals. “China has not only succeeded in creating 13 to 14 million jobs in urban zones, or increasing per capita disposable income by some 6.3 percent, but also lifted nearly 12.4 million people out of poverty,” said Azua.
