In retrospect, there were three main economic policy issues that emerged last year: the anti-corruption drive, a lower growth target and comprehensive reform. Combined, these represent an important departure from past policy approaches. Even so, many experts argue that the anti-corruption campaign should have been more systemic, the growth target lower and the reform process faster. Chinese authorities identified 2014 as the first year of new economic reform. It may turn out to be a critical year in the transition of the Chinese economy toward a new growth model.
GDP growth in 2014 ended up a touch under the official target of around 7.5 per cent set at the beginning of the year. But this modest growth deceleration appears to have triggered major difficulties in the corporate world.
During the past three decades, two traditional drivers — exports and investment — underpinned China’s strong economic growth. Now both of these drivers have lost their umph. Manufacturing industries that produce investment goods are suffering from high overcapacity rates that average between 30–40 per cent. At the same time, manufacturing firms that make labour-intensive goods are rapidly losing competitiveness due to rising wages and other costs. The latter problem is popularly summarised as the