The first-quarter 7 percent economic growth year-on-year, although the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009, is still within the range of the government's reasonable growth expectations and thus should not cause excessive concern.

A country with a big economic base like China will inevitably experience a slowdown in growth. China's economic aggregate was more than $10 trillion last year, and such an economic size means that growth by one percentage point will bring an additional value equivalent to that created by growth of two percentage points in 2009. After decades of fast economic growth at the expense of the environment, China is now determined not to continue with the past high-input, resources-consuming extensive growth model any more. An intensive and cleaner growth model will unavoidably lead to economic deceleration before the new drivers of innovation and consumption come fully into play. At the same time, the lackluster external market amid deep adjustments and struggling recovery has also negatively affected China's foreign trade.

From a global perspective, the 7 percent growth is still an impressive performance, especially for the world's second-largest economy. To double its GPD by 2020 from the 2012 level, a 7 percent growth rate is enough if it can continue into the years ahead.