The Chinese statistics bureau said the slowdown was partially due to deliberate efforts for structural reform and that a slower pace of growth was preferable in the long term.
Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, is quoted by the Telegraph:
"Some measures, including the intensified property tightening campaign, new rules to curb misuse of public funds and the exit some previous stimulus policies, will inevitably have some impact on growth in the short term, but they will benefit our economy in the long run."Were this any other country such a rate of growth would be considered to be excellent.
The reality is that exceptional levels of growth, such as this, cannot continue indefinitely. Given the size of China and its economy, growth in excess of 7% isn't too shabby at all.
