China’s 2017 Economic Prospects.docVIP

PAGE  PAGE 8 China’s 2017 Economic Prospects 　　Last year marked the beginning of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan （2016-2020）. Amidst domestic worries in various sectors， the Chinese economy made a solid start and continued to contribute positively to world economic growth. In 2017， China will face even more complicated and faster-changing domestic and international situations， with increasing uncertainty. Against this backdrop， whether China can maintain its comparatively high economic growth rate of more than 6.5 percent has become a question of global interest. 　　2016 Economic Performance 　　To address the serious issues and domestic problems plaguing China’s economy， the government adapted to the new normal of economic development in 2016， committed to a new innovative， coordinated， green， open and shared development model， and pushed supply-side structural reform to successfully meet major projected goals for economic growth and set a solid foundation for accomplishing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. 　　The economy operated within an appropriate range， as manifested in “four stabilities and one decline.” The first stability was growth. China’s GDP growth rate in the first three quarters of 2016 averaged 6.7 percent， as did the projected annual growth rate. The figure landed right in the middle of the economic goal of 6.5 to 7 percent set in early 2016， indicating that China’s economy will now grow in an L-shaped path. The second stability was employment. The first three quarters of 2016 witnessed the creation of 10.67 million urban jobs， which met the annual goal of 10 million ahead of schedule. This figure was expected to surpass 13 million by the end of 2016. The third was stability of commodities prices. In 2016， China’s commodities prices rose around the start and end of the year， but stayed low at other times. The Consumer Price Index （CPI） from January to November increased 2.2 percent on a year-on-year basis， lower t