Wang Jinzhao, Development Research Center of the State Council

The macroeconomic data 2015 issued by China’s State Statistics Bureau recently show that China’s GDP has reached 67670.8 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 6.9%, and the national total fixed asset investment has reached 55159 billion yuan, with a year-on-year nominal growth of 10% (real growth rate 12% after deducting price factors). If calculated in RMB, import and export volume has decreased by 7% year on year (with a year-on-year decrease of 1.8% for export) and if calculated in dollar, export volume has decreased by 2.8% year on year while import volume has decreased by 13.2%. Viewing from total data such as GDP, fixed asset investment, as well as import and export volume, the report of economic data in the year of 2015 is not that sound. However, if viewing from the perspectives of China’s transformation of growth impetus, adjustment of industrial structure, and upgrading of international competitiveness, there are many good points. First, from the perspective of transformation of growth impetus, though increase in fixed asset investment and export has declined, consumption has kept a constant growth. Second, from the perspective of adjustment of economic structure, China’s tertiary industry has maintained strong impetus of growth. Third, from the perspective of industrial upgrading, the industries closely related to consumption have kept relatively constant growth while heavy chemical industries with high consumption and pollution have decelerated their growth rate. These facts indicate the further optimization and upgrading of China’s industrial structure. Finally, from the perspective of upgrading of China’s competitiveness, although China’s export growth has declined, China’s industrial competitiveness has gradually improved. Overall, China’s economic growth is still in a process of transformation. While economic growth has slowed down, the pace of transformation and upgrading has become accelerated. In future, it is of greater importance to properly deal with the relationship between slow economic growth and swift transformation and upgrading.