China's new five-year plan being discussed at a meeting of leaders of the Communist Party of China could give the world an answer to its slowing economy, a Nigerian expert has said.
The four-day meeting, which kicked off on Monday, will review proposals for the 13th five-year plan. A final plan will be ratified by the annual session of China's top legislature in March 2016.
"This is very significant at a time when China's economy is entering what is called neo-normal," said Charles Onunaiju, an expert on China-African affairs.
China's GDP grew a six-year low of 6.9 percent in the third quarter, according to official data.
In an interview with Xinhua in Abujia, Nigeria, Onunaiju said the slowing economy is understandable, given adjustments that the country has made in recent years.
"We saw a gradual slowdown and this slowdown is not abrupt, it is as a readjustment of key basis in the Chinese economy. China is readjusting its structure, de-emphasizing the traditional drivers of the economy and then emphasizing new sectors," he said.
Onunaiju said the slowdown was not negative, doubting some predictions that it could cause a hard-landing or crash.
"China is gradually entering a post-industrial state where it is not just driven by exports relying on the vagaries of the international market, but now have built a competent domestic market," he said.
"If you have a guaranteed domestic market, you are going to be less affected by the fluctuations in the international market," he added.
An aerial view of Lujiazui financial and trade zone in Shanghai, China, Sept.11, 2015. (Xinhua/Cai Yaofang)
Onunaiju said China would continue to make contributions to the global economy as it strengthens its new basis for development, or its economy enters what it termed as a "neo-normal" phase.
With a view that China contributed 30 percent to global growth in the first half of the year, the expert forecast that China would be "more central to global economic growth" with its new five-year plan being mulled.
Beisdes economic reforms, the expert also expected social reforms in China, like those regarding internal migration and registration of residency, from the five-year plan.
"Relaxing the rules on internal migration, finding jobs from one province to the other will enhance further social stability," he said.