China’ new economic policy – what happened so far?
Postat den 3rd May, 2016, 08:10 av Hubert Fromlet, Kalmar
It seems, for example, credible that the role of the service sector has been strengthened more recently. This is a cornerstone in the new economic policy. The exact degree of this improvement is not known but the tertiary sector’s share of total production may now in reality be slightly more than 50 percent of GDP compared to roughly 40 percent for manufacturing (applying calculations by the National Bureau of Statistics).
Some further marketization of the financial sector and improvements in financial supervision can also be observed since 2014. The yuan has become a more international currency. Institutional shortcomings like corruption seem to be counteracted more strongly these days than in the past. The residential registration system (hukou) is about to be modernized, although probably not fast and broadly enough. Urbanization as a main driver of economic growth is going on, and let’s not forget the planned new Belt and Road Project with investment magnitudes that could become very high if everything goes to plan. Focus on innovation, (mass-) entrepreneurship, e-commerce and other IT developments, pollution and the “new normal” with lower potential – but qualitatively better – GDP growth has been intensified by the Chinese decision makers and has also led to concrete measures.
An interesting detail is the introduction of a bonus and penalty system for pollution in an increasing number of cities in order to meet the compulsory government reduction targets of the current five-year plan. Further plans for pricing reforms should also be mentioned.
Thus, Chinese political decision makers are certainly not passive. Improvements have taken place recently and will happen in the future. However, insufficient reform steps and compromises will also be noted. Modern country and corporate analysis has to consider the promising parts of the reform policy but also the major difficulties that China will be confronted with in the forthcoming years.
Hubert Fromlet
Senior Professor of International Economics, Linnaeus University
Editorial board
Det här inlägget postades den May 3rd, 2016, 08:10 och fylls under China