An orderly slowdown

China's economic growth dipped by 1.1 percentage point in the first quarter, from 11.7 percent to 10.6 percent year-on-year. Such a gradual slowdown bears testimony to both the effectiveness of China's macroeconomic control and the resilience of the Chinese economy.

Policymakers should keep cooling the economy to tame runaway inflation. A watchful eye on negative factors is needed to avoid a sharp slowdown. But it is still too early to loosen measures the government has adopted to balance and restructure the national economy.

The growth record in the first quarter marks a desirable slowdown from last year.