China's economy set to rebound with new drivers

China's economy is poised to rebound this year with concrete efforts being made to embrace economic rebalancing towards domestic consumption, higher-end manufacturing and green projects, said an economic expert.

"China's economy is set to rebound this year as certain new drivers of economic growth have begun to emerge," said Zhu Min, vice-chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges at Boao Forum for Asia's annual conference.

China's economic growth model is moving from one dependent on investment, real estate and export to one that will be propelled by domestic consumption, higher-end manufacturing and green projects, he said.

Development of the manufacturing industry must remain front and center, said Zhu, adding that China continues to maintain the world's top manufacturing powerhouse, with total value added by the Chinese manufacturing sector amounting to 30 percent of global output.

The current international landscape brought to the forefront the significance of a bigger and stronger manufacturing industry in China. Greater efforts should be made to scale up the proportion of high-tech products in particular, he said.

Zhu also noted the key role of consumer spending in driving growth, and that the consumption vouchers jointly issued by companies and the government were a highlight.

"Consumption depends heavily on policy. The recent joint issuance of consumption vouchers by companies and the government has been proved very effective," he said. "Private sectors have played a very important part in boosting consumption."

On top of these, China's green transformation is also making rapid progress. With the advancement of science and technology, new energy investment, power grid reform, and new energy-related infrastructure construction will pick up pace in the years to come, he said.