China drives global economy despite slowdown

Many outside China believe the country's economic slowdown is to blame for the recent drastic fluctuations in the global stock, foreign currency and commodity markets. They also think that the prospects of the world's second-largest economy are gloomy.

But the fact is, the increasing downward pressure on China's economy is a result of the slow growth in domestic demand, which, in turn, is a result of the country's structural adjustment and weakening external demands. Besides, the outflow of capital from emerging economies and depreciation of their currencies owing to expectations of an interest rate hike in the United States have also added to the global financial turbulence.

Because of the structural adjustment, China's economic growth (about 7 percent) is expected to be slower than the past decades. The change in China's demographics - such as declining working-age population, decreasing domestic savings ratio, and weakening capital accumulation and exports - have slowed down the national economy. But in 2014, China's GDP increased to $10.4 trillion, up $800 billion from 2013.