By lowering China's growth target to 7.5 percent this year, Premier Wen Jiabao has signaled that an era of supercharged expansion may be coming to an end. The new target suggests that China's leaders have reached a comfort level with slower growth, says an article in The Wall Street Journal Asia. Excerpts:

A reduced pace of investment in infrastructure, power generation and exports would likely mean slower growing imports. But with the shift will also come new opportunities, both at home and abroad.

A China that relies more on consumer spending may pollute less, easing global environmental worries, and produce more jobs. The shift could also lift imports of software, entertainment, tourism, and high-technology goods and services produced by the United States, Europe and other wealthier nations.

Wen said China would ease the registration requirements for rural migrants to cities, making it easier for them to get better-paying jobs. He also said that China would boost its pension and healthcare systems, which could encourage Chinese families to spend more of their savings.

Slower growth and slightly higher inflation is the new normal for China", said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of GK Dragonomics, a Beijing economic consulting firm.

Wen listed areas where the government had made progress, including taming inflation and rising housing prices. The premier said the government would continue to discourage "speculative" real estate spending. To avoid a real estate market crash, China has ramped up production of low-income housing. The goal is to "bring property prices down to a reasonable level".

(China Daily 03/07/2012 page10)