A sustainable growth marathon is better than a sprint

When China overtook the United States as the world's top goods trader in 2013, China's celebrations were led by former commerce minister Gao Hucheng. On Tuesday, in response to news that the US had retaken the lead by about $20 billion in 2016, Gao expressed optimism: For major trading powers, short-term data anomalies are perfectly normal.

Gao is more focused on a change of trajectory. China is weaning itself off its dependence on cheap exports and foreign money. For the past more than three decades, China has been the acknowledged master of sustained growth. The trick now is to move up the value chain and convert that "sustained" growth into "sustainable" growth.

Fluctuations in currency exchange rates and commodity prices slowed down China's exports and imports in 2016, but as Gao says, it is no longer about blind expansion; it is about resources, it is about the environment. The era of "damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead" development has ended.