PURSUING QUALITY GROWTH
China set an annual economic growth target for 2010 of around 8 percent, with an increased focus on the quality of growth, according to the 2010 government work report.
Sheng said the government aims to adjust the economic structure and transform the growth pattern by creating a more consumption-oriented economy, rather than one fueled by high investment and exports.
The government also wants to increase the weight of agriculture, manufacturing and services in the nation's economic growth, and decrease that of industrial production.
The government also wants to achieve growth with technology and improvements in management, rather than through high-levels of energy consumption.
The government has announced a series of measures in this regards: subsidies for car and home appliance purchases; the canceling of export rebates on some energy-consuming and high-pollution products; the easing of restrictions for private investment in certain industries; and curbs on loans to polluting and energy-intensive industries.
Sheng said China has made progress in transforming the economic growth pattern, as the output of the services sector contributed 42.6 percent to GDP in the first half, up from 41.3 percent a year earlier, while the contribution of the industrial sector fell to 49.7 percent from 50.1 percent a year ago.
"China will step up efforts to accelerate the economic restructuring as these current improvements are just the beginning and the foundation for the transformation is still fragile," Sheng added.
Judging from the data, China is on the road to more sustainable growth, said an ANZ Bank report.
"A moderation in China's growth is affordable and should not cause panic," said Zhu Baoliang, chief economist at the State Information Center. "We are building the foundation for long-term development."
Zhu expects China's GDP growth to continue moderate, to around 9 percent, in the second half of the year.
