By Li Wei, Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC)

The current new normal for China is both a present tense developed from the past tense and more importantly a future tense which involves immense vigor for reform and innovation to step into a new historical stage. To understand the new normal and to adapt to the new normal are both important; yet still more important is to lead the new normal and push China's economy to a new level. First of all, the new normal marks a necessary stage for moving to a high level. It is featured by the fact that during this phase economy has shifted gear from previous high speed growth to medium-to-high-speed growth. Besides, the core feature of the new normal is the relay between old and new growth drivers. China's rapid growth has been fundamentally bolstered by reform and opening-up. However, after years of rapid development, the engine supporting China's economic growth has been completely shifted. It is true that quite a few risks have been accumulated over past 30 years of rapid growth, but we should put more focus on new opportunities brought about by the new normal. In addition, under the new normal government should transform its functions and let market play the decisive role. To better leverage synergy between government and market under the new normal, we need to reduce government interference in the direction of industrial structure upgrading, the mode of industrial optimization and upgrading as well as the market competition mechanism as to which businesses could survive. Last but not least, as for principles and recent policy focus for macro-control under the new normal, adapting to and leading the new normal require the government to adjust approaches toward and tools of macro-control so as to make policies more effective.