Cities heed ‘new normal’ rhetoric

Officials in localities across China are lowering their economic growth targets as top policymakers call for a "new normal" of slower and healthier GDP expansion.

For instance, Beijing's mayor Wang Anshun is targeting 7 percent growth this year not only for the city's economy as a whole, but also for local per capita income as well.

Such a target reflects current thinking on conditions within the Chinese economy.

Beijing has long outperformed other cities in China in terms of its development. By cutting its growth target, the city can focus on structural economic transitions and industrial upgrading, both of which will help the city achieve healthier growth over the long run.

Also, city planners will have to increase local residents' share of GDP in order to hit their per capita income goals.

In order to do this, the city will have to introduce incentives and regulations to redistribute earnings.

Of course, during this process municipal authorities in Beijing need to reduce their own costs and maximize their fiscal income.