新旧动能转换 (xinjiu dongneng zhuanhuan): Transition to new from old economic engines

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday that China's GDP growth in the third quarter of the year was 6.9 percent, which is the weakest growth rate since 2009. It shows the pressure not only from the economic downturn, but also from China's economic restructuring.

The economic downturn is a global trend. The economic recovery of traditional economic powers such as countries in Europe and the United States is still slow, while other emerging economies such as Russia and Brazil are also experiencing an economic recession.

Premier Li Keqiang said three times last week that China's economy is in the process of shifting from the old economic drivers to new ones. The increasingly weak economic engines of the past have put more pressure on the Chinese economy. Weak real estate investment, overcapacity in traditional industries such as the iron and steel and cement industries, as well as the ever-increasing pressure on exports from weakening demand all show that the traditional economic engines are losing steam.

Nevertheless, in the third quarter, China's service industry accounted for more than 50 percent of the country's overall GDP for the first time, and consumption has gained momentum as a driver of economic growth. The high-tech industry's economic growth rate is also far beyond that of traditional industries on average. These changes all show that the changing of the economic structure is starting to take effect.