Podcast: China's consumer power will be impressive by 2015, says economic guru

An emergence of the Chinese consumer society will be seen in the coming years.

People's Daily Online Business Podcast by Li Zhenyu
Previous: Why will China become world's fastest-growing consumer market?

China's transition to a consumption-led economy is certainly good news for the world, as some major economies such as the U.S. and the euro zone are in desperate need of new sources of growth and job creation. The much-anticipated consumption transition could well help meet this demand and provide new markets for all the world's major exporters.

For its own sake, China also needs a successful transition to a consumer economy to rebalance its economic structure and put the economy on a healthier and more sustainable footing.

The question here is how long will it take for China to finish the transition and build a modern consumer society?

Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and a current senior fellow at Yale University, shared with me his take on this issue.

"I don't think a transition like this will ever really be complete, but I think we'll start to see very clear signs of that by the end of the 12th Five-year Plan in 2015," said Roach, who is also the former chief economist at Morgan Stanley and a long-time China watcher.

"I think the 13th Five-year Plan will really see a very clear emergence of the Chinese consumer society that will be far more impressive than what we are seeing right now."

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