China's upgraded growth model provides fresh opportunities for world

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- "Reforms," "adjustments" and "transformation" are the key words used by world media in their reports about Chinese economy discussed at this year's annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The transformation of China's growth model features expansion of domestic demand, new-type urbanization and innovation-driven development.

Analysts said such a growth model will provide fresh opportunities for the whole world.

EXPANSION OF DOMESTIC DEMAND INJECTS NEW IMPETUS INTO GLOBAL ECONOMY

The government work report delivered at the NPC opening session last Tuesday has urged unswerving efforts in taking expansion of domestic demand as the government's long-term strategy for economic development, letting consumption play a "fundamental" role and investment a "key" role.

The Wall Street Journal said in its comment about the work report that the Chinese government is determined to shift its economic growth from an export-oriented model to one driven by domestic demand.

It is commonly believed that there is severe imbalance in the old global economic cycle that features over-consumption and debt accumulation in developed nations and high savings and strong exports in emerging countries.

The model in which China merely acts as a supplier to meet foreign demand can no longer be sustained after the financial crisis.

The policy signals sent by the NPC and CPPCC annual sessions revealed that China has decided to vigorously boost domestic demand, so as to transform its growth pattern and avoid the "middle-income trap."

The shift will not only sustain China's own development but also inject new impetus into the global economy and create more dividends for the world.

Reinforced Chinese demand can boost exports to China, which can help with economic growth of those exporting countries. Meanwhile, economic growth in those countries can produce new demand for Chinese products and the new demand can further benefit China to generate more demand for overseas products.

The world economy is expected to establish a new-type cycle based on "Chinese demand," Goldman Saches said in its research newsletter.

Andrei Ostrovsky, deputy director of the Far East Research Institute of Russia's Science Academy, said China's biggest advantage is to have a huge domestic market and the new-type urbanization strategy heatedly discussed at the two sessions holds key to activating the market.

China's urbanization ratio lags far behind developed countries, where the ratio averages 70 percent.

With an increase of every 10 million urban dwellers, investment in infrastructure will grow 1 trillion yuan (about 629 billion U.S. dollars), according to the China Institute for Reform and Development.

And the ensuing reforms in income distribution, social security and public service systems will unlock the full potential of domestic demand in the economy, the institute said.

Nicholas Borst, a research analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said China's urbanization provides a vital opportunity for the world.

Infrastructure construction during the urbanization process will provide opportunities for high-tech companies overseas while the influx of rural citizens will drive up consumption and expand domestic demand, which will in turn generate deals for foreign companies selling products and services, he added.

CHINA'S ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING NEW DIVIDEND FOR GLOBAL INDUSTRY

"We need to promote industrial restructuring, establish a new framework for modern industrial development and lay stress on the settlement of the problem of overcapacity in a bid to improve the quality of, derive more benefits from and add new impetus to China's economic development," said Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, while deliberating with NPC deputies on the government work report during the annual session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).

To incorporate information technology into industry, to prioritize advanced manufacturing, to upgrade traditional industries through financing and supporting emerging strategic industries....

Those initiatives serve not only as a response to global economic and technological competition in the post-crisis era but a driving force for a new round of international division of labor and industrial restructuring to form a new pattern featuring a win-win outcome for the whole world.

Vice president of India-China Friendship Association G.H. Fernandes said that China is gradually reducing its role as the world's factory, which is good news for its neighboring regions.

Rosendo Fraga, director of the New Majority Research Center, said China's economic transformation and upgrading will not only help boost the export of its neighbors or other developing nations but also offer lots of opportunities for countries like Mexico, which can fill China's vacancies in the industry chain.

While trying to restructuring its economy, China is also seeking to break development bottlenecks through innovation, which offers opportunities for European and U.S. enterprises that own advanced technologies in areas such as new materials, bio-medicine and clean energy.

In the context of industrial upgrading, transnational enterprises can find great opportunities in regions like China's Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, said Gerard Lyons, chief economic advisor to the mayor of London.

Lyons also advised British enterprises to seize such opportunities and enter high value-added industries.

Patima Prajakschitt, a senior research fellow with the Kasikorn Research Center, said that China's industrial upgrade, which draws on technological achievements from developed countries, could also make a technological transfer to developing countries.

China's technological exports of clean energy and solar energy in particular has effectively improved the local energy structure, she said.

A NEW COOPERATION PARTNER AS CHINA GOES GLOBAL

Openness is still the core of China's economic policy as the government work report said that China will adhere to the basic national policy of opening up and implement a more proactive opening-up strategy.

A report of PriceWaterhouseCoopers said China is rapidly emerging as a global investor. It can be predicted that in the future, Chinese capital will actively get involved in global resources and technology, thus relieving the pain of industries from U.S., European economic contraction and financial restraint.

Chinese capital is much needed in the money-hungry world. A report by the University of Sydney said China is expected to invest billions of dollars in Australia in the next five years and the funds could boost local economic growth and create jobs.

Meanwhile, the Chinese economic growth model also offers inspiration to other nations.

In the eyes of Fraga, the Chinese model shows the importance of consistency of a nation's development strategy. Meanwhile, a stable political environment is also vital for a country's socioeconomic development.

Lyons also noted the long-term vision of Chinese decision makers, saying that developing countries can learn from China's gradual approach to financial liberalization as well as its emphasis on infrastructure construction.

Professor Shaun Breslin of the University of Warwick in Britain said the message China is sending to other developing countries is that the Washington Consensus is not the only model of growth.