Official touts benefits of economic slowdown

(ECNS) -- An official with China's top economic planner has suggested a modest slowing of China's economic growth to make way for structural adjustments and reform.

Too much emphasis on growth in the past had undermined economic goals, said Wang Yiming, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, at an economic and financial gathering organized by Caijing Magazine.

He also said that China's economic growth is slowing, and problems that had accumulated during the period of rapid growth are starting to be solved.

Wang said that structural adjustment and reform are the engines of China's growth, and that the priority should be on improving efficiency. 

"I believe that three to five years from now, there will be a fundamental change in the quality of China's economy," Wang said.