Improving growth quality right direction for China, says expert

HANOI -- Focusing on improving the quality of economic development is the right direction for China, according to Hoang The Anh, deputy director general of the Institute of Chinese Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Anh talked lengthily about his observations of China's 12th National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.Anh said that at the Central Economic Work Conference held late last year China has set out six tasks for 2013, including moving towards a more balanced, stable and sustainable economic development.

For the first time, the quality of economic development is set as the core in China's development process, Anh said."This is a new way of thinking of the new leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). While the new leaders are aware of the importance of the world's second biggest economy its quality of development quality is still not so high," Anh said, adding that it is necessary for China to think seriously about this issue because this affects not only the lives of the Chinese people, but also China's image in the world.

"The new leadership of China that includes President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang are composed of people with both theoretical and practical knowledge about economic development," Anh said."In the coming years, under the new CPC leadership, China will gradually shift from extensive to intensive development and improve the quality of socio-economic growth," he added

However, Anh said that this process will take years to be fully realized. The issue is related to the country's policies and institutions,management capacity and the level of development in science and technology as well as in human resources."In order to develop an efficient, equitable and sustainable economy,apart from the six tasks, the Chinese government should create a fair and competitive environment for individuals and enterprises, focusing on training of high-quality human resources and attracting talents from other countries," Anh said.

Commenting on Xi Jinping's view of "community of destiny" and"win-win cooperation" to build a new type of global development partnership that is more equitable and balanced, Anh said that if China only focuses on their own interests without attaching importance to interests of other countries, it will be very difficult for the other countries to cooperate."I think that if the new Chinese leadership follows its new thinking, it will be a good signal for other countries because the world needs China and vice versa, China then will have more friends and more reliable partners," Anh said.

"At present, China has an increasingly important position in the world.If China plays its right role as a major economy, having responsibility to the world based on its foreign policy of 'peaceful development', China will positively contribute to the peace,stability and prosperity of the region and the world," Anh said.