The China Development Forum 2011 lowered its curtain in Beijing on March 11. During the forum CEOs from dozens of transnational corporations and managers of international financial institutions, as well as famous economists from the world at large, freely expressed their views on China's transformation of its development mode, and also had frank dialogues with Chinese leadership and heads of relevant government departments.

Focusing on development mode transformation

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director of the World Bank, said China is undergoing a gradual and careful process of transforming its economic development mode. As a country with a population of 1.3 billion, this was the correct and responsible attitude.

Haruhiko Kuroda, President of Asian Development Bank, said China's newly passed 12th Five-Year Plan once again emphasized economic development must bring higher social security standards and narrow the rich and poor gap, to improve people's living conditions. Many measures to be adopted were praiseworthy.

London School of Economics and Political Science Professor Nicolas Stern said practices proposed in China's 12th Five-Year Plan deserved attention. China is committed to using new technologies and pricing mechanisms to cut carbon dioxide emissions, which will benefit the whole world. "The rest of the world should follow China's example," Stern said.

Boost greater domestic demand

Angel Gurria, Secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said he believed China's 12th Five-Year Plan clearly proposes to increase investment in transforming the economic development mode, building the social security system, and education. "China is to play an increasingly bigger role on the world stage, particularly on the world economic stage."

Zheng Yongnian, Director of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, said the breakout for China's economic mode transformation during the 12th Five-Year Plan period should be housing policies and enhancement of wages for laborers and also improvements to residents' social security system. In order to boost domestic demand, China must pay attention to these two aspects: One, pressing ahead with stricter housing control policies and, two, to gradually raise wages for labors. The two were foundations to move China into a consumption-driven society.

Stephen Roach, economist and professor from Yale University, a long-time expert on China, said China's 12th Five-Year Plan was the correct strategy and planning, of great importance. The 12th Five-Year Plan, he said, might trigger the largest consumption wave human history will have ever sees, exerting profound influence on the economy of China, Asia and even the whole world.

Involved in China's innovation and transformation

Peter Loscher, President and CEO of Siemens AG, said in the new globalization era, "Made in China" is turning into "Created in China" and "Invented in China." Transnational companies could become involved in China's development process only by developing partnership relationships with Chinese companies and helping to push forward innovation.

He said Siemens now has 16 research and development centers in China and more than 2,300 engineers. Every year they contributed more than 1,000 research and development patents to China. "We have more than 90 joint ventures in China, with 43,000 employees. We do business with 14,000 Chinese suppliers, which offer job opportunities to more than a million people."

Michael Spence, a professor from Stanford University and a Nobel laureate in Economics, said China should push forward the transformation of labor intensive industries in traditional programs into the high end of the value chain, develop financial services, reform its household registration system, improve social incentive mechanisms, and stress local innovation. Now, workers' payments keep rising while surplus labor is being absorbed. As a result of this, China's economic growth should rely more on the rise of residents' disposable incomes and expansion of domestic consumption.