BEIJING - China will be pushed to adjust its economic structure as it is unable to rely on the overseas demand as it used to, experts said.

Li Yining, an economist, said during the 11th China Economic Forum that the country is not willing to adjust its economic structure while the economy is good, and does not dare to do so when the economy is bad.

But now China has no other choice but to restructure as it is the only way to survive, said Li.

Li said China has finished the "unskilled manual labor" era and entered the "technicians" era.

He predicted China's economy will grow by about eight percent in 2012. But the structure of GDP is more important than the amount, he added.

Ren Yuling, a counselor of the State Council, China's cabinet, said that China needs to make a consensus on closing four gaps: the inter-region gap, the income gap, the urban-rural gap and the inter-industry gap. He added that these gaps have existed for years and are widening rather than closing.

He explained that efforts to close the gaps were resisted by stronger forces such as richer industries or richer regions. In the case that the gaps can not be closed, it will be hard for domestic demand to be boosted.

Cheng Siwei, an economist and vice chairman of the Ninth and Tenth sessions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said the world economy has turned out worse than the International Monetary Fund expected in December this year.

Cheng said the downturn trend for the world economy will persist in the new year, but it's hard to tell exactly how slow the world economy will grow.

However, he still predicted that the world economy will grow at about three percent year-on-year.

China's economy may advance at about 8.5 percent year-on-year in 2012 and the annual inflation rate will be three to five percent, Cheng predicted.

The 11th China Economic Forum was held by China Economic Weekly in Beijing on Dec 24.