New growth mandate

THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES’ LATEST PROMISE TO FOCUS on the quality and efficiency of economic growth next year fully bespeaks their strong commitment to the country’s ongoing economic transformation. Domestically, it will inspire people who are eager to see their per capita income as well as the country’s GDP double by 2020.

To fulfill the growth blueprint announced at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last month, the country must rapidly transform its growth model to rely more on domestic consumption for balanced and sustainable growth.

And the message from Tuesday’s meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, presided over by General Secretary Xi Jinping, is clear: The country’s new leaders will have their minds fixed on the quality and efficiency of growth from the very beginning.

Internationally, China’s emphasis on the quality of economic growth is a badly needed cause for optimism at a time when the debt crisis in Europe and the United States’ fiscal cliff are adding uncertainties to global growth.

On the one hand, it shows that the Chinese leadership is quite confident in the country’s ability to achieve its short-term economic and social development goals. The economic slowdown in the first three quarters of this year sparked worries that policymakers might have to roll out another massive stimulus package to boost economic growth, even though the one adopted to counter the effects of the 2008 global financial and economic crisis produced undesired consequences.

Yet, fresh evidence that the Chinese mainland economy is now picking up from its lowest growth rate in more than three years bears testimony to the resilience of the world’s second-largest economy even in the course of transformation. On the other hand, the authorities’ resolve to give more priority to the quality and efficiency of growth also means that the economic transformation will provide a long-term source of growth for the global economy.

Chinese leaders are certainly not unaware of, nor do they underestimate, the various challenges the country faces. At the politburo meeting, they explicitly called for more risk awareness and preparations to address the upcoming challenges.