New type of bureaucrat needed for a new task

But the economy's transition now requires something different, in which the growth rate is no longer the primary target. It highlights competence in running a more service-oriented government, a more level, competitive market, more small enterprises, and more spending power from middle-class consumers (because of better protection of the terms of their social security).

Secondly, in many ways, the transition actually requires a government that is decentralized in some ways - and at the same time more centralized in other ways.

It is definitely a new game that many government entities, in order to work with private sector investors, have to learn debt financing of local investment projects. This is done through bond issues and working in an open securities market, with various third-party agencies bound by international practices.

At the same time, these government entities would have to accumulate a greater deal of financial management expertise.

This would require a new type of official - that is, with a new mind set and new skills - apart from the current campaign to root out corruption in State-monopolized industries and State-owned enterprises.

Thirdly, as GDP is no longer very useful, there are some new indicators as to whether desired changes are faster or slower in a particular area. One can do so by just checking the number and activity of non-state financial services, schools, hospitals, farms and Internet companies.

Officials will have to explore new ways of running the government to help all these grow.

After all, no transition can be quick. China's abandonment of a Soviet-style planned economy took as long as 15 years before the phrase "market economy" was written for the first time in an official policy paper in 1993. In the process, nearly all government offices had a changing of the guard, with thousands, if not millions, of officials retired. That is a lesson from history.

The author is editor-at-large of China Daily.