CRI听力:Restructuring Focus of Macro-Economic Management

Many economists are calling on Chinese policymakers to focus more efforts to restructure the Chinese economy this year as inflation pressure eases and economic growth stabilizes.

The comments are made after officials released favorable trade and inflation figures for January, and they come before China's Two Sessions due to open early next month.

Yin Xiuqi takes a closer look.

Report: Chinese authorities announced Friday that the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.5 percent from a year earlier, the same as the previous month. The reading was also a seven month low.

Liu Baocheng, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics, says the result is a good sign for Chinese economic development this year.

"I think it shows very clearly that the inflation pressure is gone. The economy is performing on a moderate growth rate, which was very much expected from last year."

Earlier this week, official figures showed the value of China's total exports climbed 10.6 percent in January from a year earlier. That was more than five times the forecast. The value of imports also jumped 10 percent from a year ago, the highest import growth since last July.

Shen Hong, Shanghai Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, says the surprising official figures raise doubts.

"There were doubts whether the same kind of so called over-invoicing activity has reemerged since the last quarter of 2013. So it's really hard to say whether it has marked a good start for the Chinese economy in 2014."

The "export over-invoicing" involves the deliberate falsification of export invoices to make it seem as if exporters are sending more goods out than they actually are.

While analysts are divided over the credibility of the trade figures, many of them predict that China is very likely to achieve economic growth above 7 percent this year, with a low inflation rate. Meanwhile, they agree that the government should focus its efforts on restructuring the economy.

Professor Liu Baocheng elaborates.

"I think there is much to discuss at the Two Sessions meetings, on strategy and the general structure of Chinese economic components, instead of just setting very specific figures. We really need to invigorate domestic consumption. However, merely subsidizing manufacturers and distributors to spur sales won't really work on (in) the long term. So therefore I think the government is now seeing the situation and trying to improve social welfare, so that people will not have to worry about what is ahead, so that they can reduce their savings rate."

Chinese authorities announced a slate of subsidy programs for household appliance and car makers in an effort to stimulate consumption at the height of the 2008 international financial crisis.

The Chinese government has not announced its 2014 economic growth target. Some economists suspect it has no plans to do so. But the growth target is usually announced at the Two Sessions held in Beijing in early March. The Two Sessions are the annual political conferences of China's top legislature and top political advisory body, and run parallel in Beijing every March.

Many economists underline that China need to upgrade its economy, curbing redundant industries, like cement, steel, and glass making. At the same time, economists suggest authorities issue concrete programs to encourage high-end service industries, such as IT, e-commerce, and logistics.

For CRI, I'm Yin Xiuqi.