A Research on China's Economic Growth Potential

After impressive growth of about 10% per annum for three decades, China's visible signs of economic slowdown since 2008 have been subject to much contention. What causes the deceleration? What should we expect in an era of China's 6% growth? This book answers these questions in three parts.

Although it is widely accepted that China can hardly continue its high-speed growth model, estimations for its future growth potential differ greatly. The first part of this book predicts China's growth to 2050, which considers both cross-country historical experiences and China's own demographic structure and employment participation features. In the second part, the book offers a comprehensive estimation of China's national and provincial total factor productivity (TFP) over the period of 1978-2014 based on comparable data. It then analyses the causes of China's economic slowdown from a productivity point of view. Finally, this book correspondingly outlines policy recommendations, including supply-side structural reform and macroeconomic policy frameworks to effectively address the issue of decline in both labor and labor productivity growth.

This book will attract scholars and students of economics and China's economic studies.

Chong-en Bai is the Mansfield Freeman Chair Professor of School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. His research areas include economic institutions, public economics, economic growth and development, and China's economy.

Qiong Zhang is an associate professor of School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China. Her research focuses on labor, population, and economic growth. Her research interests mainly relate to family economics and public economics.