Crucial period for economy

Slower economic growth may help to smooth upgrading of development and overcome middle-income trap

China's slowed economic pace in the first quarter, as indicated by a slight decline in its investment, export and consumption growth, is a combined result of the country's changed internal and external economic circumstances as well as its ongoing policy adjustments and economic structural rebalancing. It is also the result of some congenital defects in the country's internal economic development and a "bottleneck" effect.

China's recent economic growth has been achieved in a severe external environment, especially since March. A slew of uncertainty factors - from Japan's nuclear radiation leaks, the tumultuous political situation in Libya and the sovereign debt crises of some nations, to rising global inflation pressures and divergences in the monetary policies of various countries - have once again cast shadows over the nascent and struggling global economic recovery.