Fang Cai*

Abstract

This paper provides a framework for assessing the health of China’s macro economy and the sustainability of economic growth by combining supply-side and demand-side factors and by considering their relationship at different stages of development. As the Chinese economy passed through its Lewis turning point, weakened supply-side factors caused its growth to slow. The increasing concern regarding the economic slowdown has induced both the central and local governments to implement various stimulus plans through instruments of macroeconomic, industrial and regional policies. By examining where the imbalances of the Chinese economy really lie and investigating the determinants of the current slowdown and of the enhancement of the potential growth rate, the present paper suggests that the best path of action for the Chinese Government is not to stimulate growth through demand-side factors but to increase the potential growth rate through reforms in certain key areas.

Key words: macroeconomic policy, potential growth rate, supply-side factors
JEL codes: D04, O1, O53