CHINA: XI JINPING’S REFORMS

REFORM EXPECTED TO REAP RESULTS IN CHINA

Clifford Coonan

The National, January 6, 2012

After a year in which Chinese growth slowed to its lowest level since the global economic crisis began, there is considerable optimism about this year and the prospects for reform by the newly installed leader Xi Jinping.

Annual economic growth dipped to 7.4 per cent in the third quarter of last year, the weakest rate since late 2008 and early 2009, but growth has been picking up steadily since October on the back of a slate of policies aimed at boosting economic expansion.

The upbeat assessment was given a boost with news that growth in the increasingly important services sector accelerated last month to its fastest pace in four months.

China's official purchasing managers' index for the non-manufacturing sector rose to 56.1 last month from 55.6 in November, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Expansion of the world's second largest economy is likely to accelerate to around 8.5 per cent this year partly due to the nation's pro-growth policies, according to the official state news agency Xinhua.

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