China's top officials have described the economy in 2015 as 'stable'. In a press conference, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Xu Shaoshi said last year's overall economic growth rate of 6.9 percent met the official target of around 7 percent, and that China still contributes to over 25% of global growth.
As certain China-watchers regard the downward pressure on the country's economy with concern, The Chairman of the NDRC Xu Shaoshi sounded a note of optimism in China's inherent resilience to fend against risks.
"This year we have set the economic growth range at 6.5 to 7 percent. I believe we have the conditions and ability to realise this goal," Xu Shaoshi, head of the NDRC, said
He said while concern largely come from falling import figures, demand from China for a wide range of commodities like iron ore and fertilizers remained strong in 2015. Even though international oil markets fluctuated due to fears of slowing demand from China, crude oil imports had jumped 8.8 percent for the year
"The main reason behind the decline in imports is a global fall in commodity prices. This shrunk the total monetary figures, but all this time China had increased the total import volume of goods. The country continues to lend strong support for global demand," Xu said.
Another area that attracted attention is investment, which had long been a main tool to boost economic growth in times of downturn. Xu said investment still plays a key role, but the government needs to rethink its previous investment model. He said the country will shift its investment focus to new targets such as innovation, education and medical services, especially in China's mid to western regions. He also said that in the future, the government will no longer be leading the majority of these investments.
"The current investment volume from the government is only 500 billion yuan. It isn't big compared to the total volume of China's fixed-asset investment. In the future, we will use the Public Private Partnership mechanism to incorporate social capital into new projects," Xu said.
The government has made reducing its role in the economy a key philosophy of future reform measures. Xu said the NDRC had managed to reduce government approvals by 50 percent last year, and cancelled all non-administrative approval processes. Many experts welcomed the direction, saying the country's economy will have more vitality if it's grown not from the top down, but from the bottom up.
