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Balance economic growth and restructuring

By Wang Xiaoguang (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-03-17 15:15

Certainly, there are things that keep us upbeat. And new growth points are replacing old ones as China's economy enters the new normal.

First, the service sector is gaining momentum and there will be much progress in the industry. Its added value saw huge growth in the past three years, reaching 8 percent, 8.3 percent and 8.1 percent respectively. By contrast, that of the secondary industry dropped steadily to 7.3 percent last year from 8.2 percent in 2012.

That's a big shift amid economic restructuring. The rapid development of the service industry, coupled with the country's growing support for small and micro businesses, largely explains the relatively good prospect of job market despite economic slowdown in the past few years.

Institutional barriers remain on the road of the sector's development, though. As reforms deepen, restrictions of the market accession will be gradually loosened and price control will be lifted step by step. By doing this, the service industry will increasingly gain momentum and become a new engine to drive the country's economic growth.

Second, domestic consumption is growing steadily and smoothly in China. Total retail sales of consumer goods in January-February saw a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent, with a real growth of 11 percent (adjusted for inflation), up 0.2 percentage points compared with the same period of last year, and 0.1percent than in 2014.

Third, national income growth is catching up. In the past, residents' income had long been growing slower than GDP. But such a trend is now reversing. For the last two years, income growth in both urban and rural areas has outstripped that of GDP, and income distribution has become more labor-friendly, which contributed greatly to domestic consumption.

Fourth, manufacturing upgrading and innovation have been on fast track. While traditional sectors are undergoing deep reforms, new industries and business formats are springing up. That's a bitter-sweet process, and exactly the characteristics of an economy in a period of deep changes.

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