Roundup: Foreign experts expect China's economic reform to secure sustainable development

China's efforts to overhaul its economic structure will yield sustainable development for the country and also benefit the global economy, several foreign scholars and business leaders told Xinhua over China's annual "two sessions."

The third session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, opened Tuesday in Beijing. The third session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of China, will open in Beijing on Thursday.

Argemiro Procopio, a professor with the University of Brasilia, said the Chinese economy is shifting from export-driven toward domestic consumption driven and is undergoing a comprehensive industrial upgrading.

With a vast territory and a huge population of 1.3 billion, China has "made a very wise decision" to switch to tapping potentials of the domestic market, Procopio said, adding that such endeavors can not only help keep the national economy on a track of sustainable development but also improve the living standard for many inside the country.

The "new-normal" growth speed adopted to accommodate new reform measures shows China's increasing awareness to pursue sustainable development, said Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club, a London-based business organization that has pioneered in business exchanges between Britain and China.

By implementing reforms, China also seeks to ensure that everyone in the country can enjoy the benefits of development, and that those from disadvantaged groups can have extra support, Perry said, adding that he believes the ongoing reform endeavor will be a success.

The so-called "new-normal" speed of economic growth in China has a significant impact on the world economy, said Tamas Matura, president of Central and Eastern European Center for Asian Studies.

Although a lower demand for raw materials from China may add pressure on the tumbling market of commodities, the world economy may be positively impacted by the Chinese economy as long as the pace of GDP growth in China is stable and balanced in the future, said Matura.

Noting that a stable and innovation-driven growth in China may decrease pressure on the environment, Matura said such a change would be welcomed by the rest of the international community.

While warning the most important task for China is to avoid the middle income trap and the fate of Japan in the 90s, Matura said he is optimistic since the Chinese leadership "has always had strong long-term strategies based on researchers' advice."

Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also supports the rationale for China's economic reforms.

"I think they (Chinese leaders) recognize full well that they have to readjust from an investment-led economy to a services and consumption led economy. And the transition is going to be difficult because there is excess capacity in the system and excess credit floating around."

"So we are going to have a short-term fairly sharp reduction in growth...but then growth (will be) more sustainable and they should be able to maintain a 7-point something level of growth in the decade ahead."

He also noted that urbanization would be a principal source of growth for China, saying that China can actually get "a couple of more decades of better-than-average growth" if more rural dwellers move into urban apartments. Endi