Quality of living outweighs GDP growth: Experts

BEIJING - China's senior experts Saturday called on local governments to shift their focus from gross domestic product (GDP) figures to economic restructuring and the raising of ordinary people's living standards.

China achieved rapid GDP growth in 2010, but it was mainly driven by investment, instead of internal forces or domestic demand, said He Keng, deputy head of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the 11th National People's Congress.

Speaking at an annual economic forum organized by the China Center For International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), He warned local authorities against making GDP growth their top priority when drawing up development plans for the next five years.

"The central authorities' suggestions for drawing up the 12th Five-Year (2011-2015) Plan are good, but the signs some local governments send are worrying," said He.

"Efforts must be made to shift priority from achieving fast GDP growth to raising people's living standards," said He, also former deputy head of China's National Bureau of Statistics.

He said many regions had taken "doubling the current GDP" as their goal for developing their economies for the next five years.

"When growth is prioritized, local authorities tend to push GDP growth rates up with high levels of investment, resulting in risks to our economy," said He.

Economists from government think tanks also identified the problem.

"The trend of regions pursuing high GDP growth figures continues. I am worried about the risks," said Wang Yiming, the deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission-affiliated Academy of Macroeconomic Research.

Wang urged more efforts to boost innovation and productivity, which have seen no remarkable growth in recent years.

Reducing environmental problems and boosting energy efficiency also slows GDP growth pace, said Wang, citing pressure on China to keep its annual energy consumption below four billion tonnes of standard coal in 2020.

An economy that grows too fast is difficult to transform, especially when the growth is driven by investment, Wang said.

"When you aims for a very fast growth rate, the goal of curbing excessive investment is hard to achieve," he said.