Stable, sustainable growth

The message from the Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded on Wednesday, was that maintaining stable growth will be China's macro-economic policy for the coming year.

This is a sensible choice given the international and domestic situations.

Internationally, the eurozone sovereign debt crisis has worsened and the US economic recovery remains weak, while domestically rising production costs are compromising the traditional competitive advantages of Chinese exports. It is thus unrealistic for China to continue relying on exports, whose growth has become much slower and will further weaken in the coming year.