Transforming economic struture risky but vital task for nation’s future (3)

To the contrary, I believe it has unmasked China's long worrisome excess dependence on exports and external demand from the US and Europe.

If anything, that underscores the imperatives of Chinese rebalancing - shifting the structure of its growth model away from external demand toward internal demand, especially private consumption.

The global crisis should serve as a wake-up call for China, sending a clear message to the new leadership that the time for rebalancing is now at hand.

The longer China delays this process, the greater the risk of periodic slowdowns such as those of 2008-09 and 2012, both of which coincided with major global shocks that China could not avoid.

By weaning itself from the vicissitudes of global demand and relying more on the internal consumption of its 1.3 billion people, China will be much better suited to sustain its powerful record on economic development in the years ahead.

The author is a professor with Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.

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