The worst year for the world economy has finally come to an end. After tiding over the crisis, China has emerged as the first country to regain its economic momentum. Now, having successfully resumed a hastened growth rate, the Chinese Government feels an urgent need to adjust the economy to bring it onto a more sustainable track.

Thanks to the Central Government's $586-billion stimulus package, and its adoption of a proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy, the country's economy quickly rebounded after a sharp downturn in the beginning of this year. Its GDP growth rate reached 8.9 percent in the third quarter. There is no doubt that China will achieve its 8-percent goal for 2009.

But the sustainability of the recovery has come into question. Behind the satisfying GDP figures is the government's massive stimulus plan. The three engines of the economy—consumption, investment and exports—haven't played a balanced or rational role. About 90 percent of the current GDP was generated by the investment sector. In the midst of the financial crisis, the export market, once the major driving force, has lost its luster due to slumping overseas demand. The country's domestic consumption has always been a weak link and has proven to be an unreliable alternative.

The government may have realized that what the global financial crisis really affected was not the economic growth speed, but the growth model. Changing the growth model has become an urgent task. China has made this goal its "New Year's resolution" at the annual Central Economic Work Conference held earlier this month. The Central Government's decision to seek changes reflects its resolution in achieving a sustainable and quality growth in the wake of the financial crisis.

The change of the growth model, which is much more arduous, involves structural adjustments to the three main imbalances in the national economy. The service sector's proportion in the national economy should be raised to avoid an overdependence on the manufacturing industry. Domestic consumption should be stimulated to become a major engine in driving economic growth. Meanwhile, economic growth should be propped up by innovations and hi-tech rather than resource consumption. These adjustments could decelerate the growth speed at some point, but they are the change the Chinese economy needs.