HEADING FOR STABLE GROWTH.docVIP

HEADING FOR STABLE GROWTH 　　China’s GDP growth leveled off at 7 percent in the first half of this year， with an array of optimistic signs， such as better structure， improved growth quality， faster-thanexpected job creation and accelerated growth of residents’ income， boding well for the ongoing reform. 　　To stabilize economic growth， the Chinese Government unveiled a number of policies and measures， ranging from launching key infrastructure projects to remolding the investment and financing system， from lowering the reserve requirement ratios and interest rates to promoting tax cuts， from encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship to initiating the Made in China 2025 strategy.“They have begun to take effect， and the national economy is undergoing positive changes，” said Sheng Laiyun， spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）. 　　As a matter of fact， some key indicators have stood firm and even shown an upward trend. Total retail sales of consumer goods grew 10.6 percent in June after adjusting for inflation， 0.4 percentage points faster than that in May； exports scored a positive growth of 2.1 percent in June after experiencing a slump in April and May， according to data from the NBS. 　　 Quality growth 　　“At present， new growth points are still not powerful enough to completely replace the position of traditional engines， which now are losing their dynamic，” Sheng said. He added that the fragile recovery of the global economy added to the downward pressures on the Chinese economy. 　　“However， the chances are the economy will perform better in the second half of the year，” said Sheng， who believes it isn’t a question that China will achieve its end-ofyear goal of 7 percent. 　　Substantial progress has been made in the optimization of economic structure. In terms of industrial structure， added value of the service sector made up 49.5 percent of the GDP in the first half of 2015， an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the same period of the pre