China marching toward moderately developed countries  

专家称中国已迈入世界中等发达国家的门槛

中国有关经济专家此间在纽约提出，过去十年中国经历了新中国成立以来经济发展最快时期，正由一个发展中国家迈入中等发达国家的门槛。再经过未来十年的发展，中国有望正式进入世界发达国家之列。

New York (CNS) -- Having experienced a remarkable period of rapid growth in the past decade, China is stepping across the threshold to become a moderately developed country, an expert said here on Sunday.

China has achieved average annual economic growth of 10.7 percent over the past 10 years, and become second largest economy and the largest exporter in the world, said Mao Zhenhua, head of the Institute of Economic Research at Renmin University during the Columbia China Prospect Conference 2012.

In 2001, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased to 5,432 U.S. dollars, according to which the World Bank defined China as an upper middle-income country in 2011, Mao added.

Mao contributed the fast development in the past decade to the demographic dividend, new wave of technology innovation and stable foreign trade, saying that China, the largest developing country, has stepped across the threshold and become a moderately developed country.

Now the important sources of China's remarkable economic performance above have been disappearing, China has to shift to domestic market, increasing the share of private consumption in GDP, Mao said.

Mao also put forward a roadmap for China to be a developed country, that is like other developed countries improving consumption structure, depending on domestic market and increasing social security benefits. During the process, China will be growing to be the largest economy, Mao added.

China is expected to surpass the U.S. and become the largest economy in the period from 2019 to 2022, Mao said.