Italian experts highlight China's effort for more balanced growth

China's growth target of 7.5 percent for 2014 that was written in the government's work report delivered at the parliament's annual session this week was seen by Italian economists as an indicator of China's effort to pursue a high-quality and more balanced growth. China doesn't want over high growth rates from an "old development model" that "does not suit the country anymore," Giuliano Noci, a marketing professor and China expert at Politecnico di Milano, told Xinhua, while commenting on the new target figure. The Chinese economy, which is both an extraordinary target market and an important workshop for the international community, needs to expand at a reasonable but more high-quality pace, Noci explained. Noci said that in the current times of economic globalization, China faces important challenges and complex problems in pushing forward economic and social development. "If China is able to enact the reforms, especially focusing on the policies of investment liberalization and innovation processes, the impact on the international community will be positive," he went on. Noci also found China's plan to overhaul the current system for local governments to contain the mounting debt problem "very positive". Another important aspect, he said, is development of mixed-ownership economy and measures to cut overcapacity, a major drag on the Chinese economy. In his view, further concrete steps need to be taken to improve the health system and fight pollution, which poses a threat to Chinese and global development. Giorgio Prodi, an economics professor at the University of Ferrara agreed with Noci that China needs stable growth and key reforms. "If the Chinese government plan is implemented, especially regarding its fundamental points from battle against pollution to making domestic demand the main engine driving growth, it will certainly be good news for the rest of the world," Prodi told Xinhua. China's pledge to carry out people-centered urbanization was another valuable element, Prodi noted. "Urbanization is one of the motors driving China's growth because it brings investments and modernization of consumption," he said. The program also promised to level the playing field for domestic and foreign companies to promote competition, which Prodi saw is fundamental for strengthening China's position as an engine of the global economy and as well as bringing opportunities for world development.