Risk tempered by economy's steady success, experts say

The Chinese economy is entering a new stage of medium-paced growth after rebounding last year, according to a senior economist. It is a stage that could be exposed to major risks brought by accumulated local government debt driven by unbending investment impetus, the economist said.

Still, what is happening in terms of China's economic transformation, led by supply-side structural reform, has been an example of success that the world can follow, said Liu Shijin, vice-president of China Development Research Foundation.

Liu said he thinks the country's GDP growth will fluctuate between 5 and 6 percent in the coming years. He expects a slightly slower growth rate in 2018 than last year's 6.9 percent because of less-aggressive infrastructure investment and more aggressive efforts to contain local government debt.