Still praiseworthy performance

Slower growth is an indication of country's efforts to make structural adjustments and improve people's livelihoods

China's decelerating growth, the lowest since 1999, is clear evidence that China is bidding farewell to its decades-long double-digit economic growth and entering a period of medium-speed growth.

The 7.8 percent growth of last year was higher than market expectations and more than the 7.5 percent target set by the government in early 2012. The fourth-quarter growth of 7.9 percent, which brought to an end the downturn that had lasted for seven consecutive quarters, heralds an upward tendency in the months ahead.