Quality of recovery
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The stronger-than-expected rebound of the Chinese economy this year stands full testament to the efficacy of the country's policy response to the worst global recession in many decades.
However, for Chinese authorities who would like to view the crisis as also an opportunity to pursue sustainable development, the job is only half done.
By urging the government to focus more on economic structuring to improve the quality and efficiency of economic growth in 2010 and beyond, the Central Economic Work Conference that concluded yesterday in Beijing gave a clarion call for the country to strive for a high-quality recovery.
This task will not be easy, but is worthwhile.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the conference, which is held once a year to set the tone for economic development during the next year.
After three decades of robust economic growth, China has increasingly felt the need to transform its extensive growth pattern. And the global financial crisis which hit Chinese exporters hard further exposed the danger of relying too heavily on exports for growth.
A 4-trillion-yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus package and unprecedented lending growth have enabled China's economic growth to accelerate from 6.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, the slowest in almost a decade, to 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 8.9 percent in the third.
Yet, while having managed to put itself back on track of fast growth, the economy finds itself increasingly dependent on investment for growth.
As an expedient counter-crisis measure, an investment boom may be what was needed to effectively cushion the economy against the global turmoil. But in the long run, more investment growth is definitely not the answer to the country's underlying structural problems.
Fortunately, Chinese policymakers have now reached a consensus on the necessity to seek more sustainable economic growth powered by consumer-led demand.
The pro-active fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy Chinese authorities promised at the Central Economic Work Conference highlighted the needed "continuity" and "stability" of macroeconomic policies to support a stable recovery.
But more important is the focus and flexibility of economic policies that will allow policymakers to respond promptly and properly to emerging problems that could otherwise seriously undermine the quality of the recovery.
The conference also revealed that more emphasis would be laid on reform and opening up, innovation, enhancing the vigor and momentum of the economic growth, improving people's livelihood, maintaining social harmony and stability.
This year is the last in the country's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), and it is believed that real progress on changing the growth pattern will lay a sound foundation for the next five-year plan.
The world will also surely benefit more if the largest developing economy can emerge from the global crisis with strong and sustainable consumer-led growth.
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