China on right track for growth model change

The dramatic rise in the price of land, labor and raw materials, and a 30 percent appreciation of the renminbi since 2005, have seen China fast losing the historic cost advantages that helped fuel arguably the most dramatic economic rise in history.

But after several visits to China, Anders Aeroe - a senior director of the World Trade Organization-linked International Trade Centre - says that he thinks the country remains firmly on track to successfully transform its manufacturing-led growth model of the past 20 to 30 years, into a more sophisticated economy, led by innovation and services.

In an interview with China Daily, Aeroe - whose organization is tasked with helping small business in developing and transition-economy countries - said the Chinese government's very visible hand on the economy, is working better than the international market's often invisible, more natural influences in helping companies here build their competitiveness around the world, and change their image.