Economic statistics show stable performance, better quality: China Daily editorial

The country's official economic data for last year, which were released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday, show China remains the fastest-growing major economy in the world and the largest contributor to global economic growth, contributing about one-third of annual world growth.

But with its overall economic scale being nearly 100 trillion yuan ($14.6 trillion), the paramount focus for the country now is no longer the rate at which the economy expands, but the quality of its growth.

China's economy expanded by 6.1 percent last year, meeting expectations and the country's pre-set growth target despite unfavorable external conditions.

Although the growth rate was down from the 6.6 percent registered in 2018 and the lowest since 1990, considering the external headwinds and the fact that the world's second-largest economy has streamed ahead for about 40 years with an average annual rate of nearly 10 percent, it is only natural that it should now be slowing.

Especially because the country's efforts to restructure its economy — from growth driven by investment and exports to more sustainable growth driven by domestic demand and innovation — are still ongoing and also dragging on the pace of expansion.

But despite all these decelerating factors, there are signs that the government's policy measures have now stabilized the economy. In the fourth quarter, at least, GDP growth did not continue to slide, coming in at 6 percent year-on-year, the same as the previous quarter. And indicators such as the growth of industrial output, retail sales and fixed-asset investment rebounded in November and December.

With China and the United States having inked a deal that takes the heat out of their trade dispute — which will also perk up the world economy — there are reasons to expect the Chinese economy will perform more robustly in the months ahead. Particularly, as the government has kept enough policy tools in hand to deliver on the promise to realize the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects this year.

Yet for pessimists, the Chinese economy is always facing catastrophic risks and a potential hard landing. While optimists ignore the challenges and focus exclusively on the bright side. Neither view is rational, as the reality is, the economy does face risks but, if properly handled, its growth prospects are undoubtedly promising.

As Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at the news conference to release the data on Friday, the overall performance of the national economy has been stable and the quality of development has been improving, with major targets being met.

For instance, with its industrial production efficiency and its corporate-debt-to-asset ratio improving, the country's economic restructuring is evidently making solid progress, which lays the groundwork for more sustainable growth in the coming years. And as the country continues to increase investment in research and development, its high-tech industries will help unleash more of the country's growth potential.

Meanwhile, China will maintain a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy in 2020 and roll out support measures necessary to cope with downward pressure and maintain economic stability.