China Voice: Fighting corruption will not hurt economic growth

It is the same old story: Whenever China releases new data the naysayers emerge to muddy the waters.

This time round, China observers have been quick to link the 6.9 percent economic growth rate posted for 2015, which, by the way, is in line with the official target of around 7 percent, with the ongoing anti-corruption battle.

Allegations linking the two ignore the prominent features of the economy. True, the economy has entered a "new normal," but it still "ran within a reasonable range", and structural improvements and upgrading have been successful and new growth drivers are having the desired effect.

The countercorruption campaign has gone above and beyond expectations,with more than 54,000 officials investigated by prosecutors for bribery, dereliction of duty and other duty-related crimes in 2015 alone.

While the numbers speak for themselves, some allege that the campaign is to blame for slower economic growth.

After more than three decades of fast growth, it is hardly reasonable for China, now the world's second largest economy, to continue to blindly pursue double-digit growth rate. China, like every other economy, is beset by a myriad of internal and external problems, sagging global trade, rising financial risks and changing domestic market conditions to mention just a few.

Thanks to decades of economic reform, the growth model and consumption demand have changed from undersupply to oversupply in some sectors, and from an emphasis of quantity to a preference for quality.

Slower economic growth is the beginning of a sustainable development path and it will, inevitably, experience "growing pains."

Fighting corruption will not impede economic growth, in fact it has ensured fairer competition and created an even playing field for further development.

Both the former Communist Party of China chief and mayor of Nanjing in east Jiangsu Province were netted by the anti-graft campaign, with the latter sentenced to 15 years in prison in April for accepting bribes.

Yet, despite these high profile cases, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the city expanded by 9.3 percent in 2015 to 972 billion yuan (about 147.7 billion U.S. dollars).

This goes to show that only clean governance will result in a sustainable economy. Corruption raises the costs for businesses and damages the fairness in investment and trading.

In a healthy business environment, entrepreneurs will be able to focus on innovation and production, ensuring ideas, not connections, are rewarded. Endi