Govt's actions ensure economy in better fettle than expected: China Daily editorial

The stabilization of China's economy is also of great significance to the world economy, which is facing the challenge of a gradual slowdown. The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecast for the world economy this year, highlighting widespread concerns over the prospects of global economic growth.

However, it would be premature to conclude that the Chinese economy has bottomed out, since it does face some challenges. Compared with the first quarter of last year, major indicators, such as industrial output and fixed-asset investment and retail sales growth, have all eased in the first three months, showing that more efforts are needed to improve the economic fundamentals.

The country also needs to properly handle its monetary stance to ensure stable growth while avoiding injecting too much liquidity into the market, in order to prevent asset prices and consumer inflation from surging. The consumer price index rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in March, up from 1.5 percent in February, ringing an alarm bell for policymakers.

The country should also take advantage of the relatively stable state of the economy to continue to press ahead with its supply-side structural reforms and economic opening-up to improve the quality of growth and ensure longer-term sustainability.

The dual task of achieving stable growth and improving the quality of growth will put China to the test this year, especially considering the uncertainties on the external front.