Deloitte: Chinese economy set to benefit more from reforms

Paul Siu, deputy CEO of Deloitte China, is confident of China's economy and expects it to benefit more from reforms.

"China's economy is very positive in general. The dividends from reform are huge and yet to be fully realized," he said during the sideline of the 2017 Annual Meeting of New Champions, also known as Summer Davos, in Dalian.

China has set the target of achieving GDP growth at around 6.5 percent this year. In the first quarter, GDP grew at 6.9 percent year-on-year, getting the economy off to a good start, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

"There are expectations that China will achieve 6.7 or 6.9 percent growth rate this year. I think such a figure is very high. China may not need such a high growth rate," Siu said.

"As Premier Li Keqiang said, the growth of China's GDP by 1 percent now is equal to 2 percent 10 years ago due to its large base," said Rosa Yang, chairwoman of Global Chinese Services Group of Deloitte China.

"The country has achieved a relatively low unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, which did not come easily."

"The economy has become more self-reliant, given its shift from investment and export-driven to consumption-driven," she said.

Consumption contributed to 64.4 percent of China's economic growth last year, becoming a major driver of growth, according to Premier Li in his speech delivered to the opening of 2017 Summer Davos.

A country's overall competitiveness lies largely in innovation, Yang said.

"Chinese companies are very innovative in e-commerce, mobile payment and sharing economy," she said.

In the year 2016, China's application for patents surged by more than 40 percent, and the numbers of patent applications by Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE ranked the largest globally, she said.

China took the 28th place in Global Competitiveness Index released by the World Economic Forum last year and there is room for it to improve, she added.

Deloitte has been applying innovative technologies to make its operation more efficient while helping customers solve problems with new technologies, according to Siu.

It set up the Deloitte Greenhouse in Shanghai in February, which allows customers to experience new technologies and explore how to improve their operations with the technologies, he said.

The theme of this year's Summer Davos was "Achieving Inclusive Growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

Yang said: "Inclusive growth is about equality - the equal chances for countries to participate in trade and engage in economic development."

"The Belt and Road Initiative manifests the spirit of inclusive growth and puts the concept of inclusive growth into practice," she added.