Retain confidence in China

With the GDP growth rate reaching 7.8 percent in the third quarter, China's economy is once again showing signs of stable growth.

And the ongoing reforms, which aim to adjust the industrial structure, accelerate urbanization and modernize agriculture, offer further support for optimism as they will add new vigor for continued and stable growth in the future.

The slowing of China's economic growth in the largest emerging market and the world's second-largest economy has aroused worldwide concern. [Photo / Xinhua]

However, some Western media and experts have chosen to take a different view of China's economy and they claim China's growth will slow, dragging the world into recession. Open their websites and you will find plenty of eye-catching headlines such as "China is the biggest danger to emerging market rally" or "Forget Greece, China biggest threat to global economy". Their views vary but they agree on one thing: there is no reason for optimism.

But their claims are arbitrary and groundless and not worth refuting, says an opinion piece in People's Daily. They have selectively forgotten China's excellent achievements amid the dark days of the global financial crisis, as well as its remarkable economic performance over the last three decades.

Data from the International Monetary Fund show that from 2008 to 2012, China's annual average GDP growth rate was 9.3 percent, while from 2008 to 2010, its net growth accounted for 29.8 percent of the world's total.

It is true that after more than 30 years of rapid growth, China is now making the transition to a more sustainable development mode, and the target growth rate during this transformation is 7.5 percent. However, this rate is still high enough to ensure China will remain one of the engines of the global economy.

China is seeking more sustainable growth, and it will promote technological and systemic innovations to propel its future economic growth.

Those who insist on the notion that China will decline can refer to a book As China Goes, So Goes The World: How Chinese Consumers Are Transforming Everything, in which Professor Karl Gerth of Oxford University describes the historical rise of China's consumer market over the past three decades and predicts its deep influence upon the world in the long run.

Both past experiences and current information support optimism rather than pessimism, as they indicate China's economy will continue on the path of stable growth, which will benefit both its own people and the rest of the world.

Have confidence in China's economy, as it is good for all.

(China Daily 11/07/2013 page8)